Rapid Prediction of Moisture and Ash Content in Sungkai Leaves Herbal Tea (Peronema canescens Jack.) using NIR Spectroscopy

It is imperative to measure the chemical composition of Sungkai leaf herbal tea in order to produce high-quality goods that promote human health. The moisture and ash content of Sungkai leaf herbal tea are critical parameters for assessing the quality of herbal tea. This study aimed to evaluate an NIR spectroscopy method for quickly determining the moisture and ash content of Sungkai leaf herbal tea. Sungkai leaf herbal tea has a moisture content between 3.93% and 7.59%, and an ash content between 3.94% and 5.51%. We developed a calibration model using partial least squares (PLS) with several pretreatment methods. We split the data into calibration and prediction sets and performed an internal random cross-validation. A PLS calibration model with Rp2 = 0.86, a root means square error of prediction (RMSEP) of 0.30 (%), and a residual predictive deviation (RPD) of 2.76, performed exceptionally well at predicting the moisture content when the standard normal variate (SNV) pre-treatment was applied to the NIR spectra. The Savitzky-Golay derivative (a 9-point smoothing window, second-order polynomial, dg2) pre-treatment method also generated the best PLS calibration model for ash content determination, with Rp2 = 0.70, RMSEP = 0.16 (%), and RPD = 1.86. NIR spectroscopy can quickly determine the moisture and ash content of Sungkai leaf herbal tea, as suggested by these findings.