[Recent progress in NIR spectroscopy technology and its application to the field of forestry].

Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) is the most rapidly developing and the most noticeable spectrographic technique in the 80's (the last century). Its developing history and utilization in foreign countries were introduced. The authors mainly summarized the applications of NIRS to the field of forestry. The applications of near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) in fruit quality, timber and seed quality analysis are more active in forestry due to its rapid, timely, less expensive, non-destructive, straightforward analytic characteristics. In the last two decades, non-destructive methods using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) to evaluate parameters for estimating maturity were applied to different fruits species to check the ripening status of fruits on trees or to grade fruits in the packing house, to assess fruit quality, such as sugar and acid contents, soluble solids, firmness of fruit, offers great advantages to growers in deciding when to harvest. The near infrared spectrophotometry (NIRS) can also be used the nondestructive quantitative assessment of the solid wood density, the moisture condition and the lignin content in bulky wood. The previous results indicated that the utility of NIRS was a selection tool in breeding programs, for example, three kids of persimmon fruits, astringent, non-astringent and half-astringent, were clearly classified by using Near-infrared (NIR) methods, and based on the combination of near infrared technology and multivariate analysis, the genetic, physiological and technical qualities of both temperate and tropical tree species on single seed basis can be characterized. It has already been shown that NIRS can predict the chemical composition of litters. NIRS is also capable of correlating the initial spectral characteristics of the litters with their short- and medium-term decomposability. The stage of decay of decomposing leaves can be predicted by using the near infrared reflectance spectroscopy. The method is rich in information and quick to conduct. However, the applications of NIRS to the field of forestry in our country are only on the beginning, and are mainly focused on wood characteristics and fruit quality testing. In fact, there are still some further applications of NIRS in forestry in future, such as analyzing trace elements in fruit, biosecurity inspection. In this paper, the authors analyzed the NIRS applications status in home and abroad, and discussed the applied prospects to promote its applications to the field of forestry research and practical programs in our country.