Artificial and Hybrid Fuzzy Linear Neural Network‐Based Estimation of Seed Oil Content of Safflower

Inexpensive and rapid methods for measurement of seed oil content by near infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) are useful for developing new oil seed cultivars. Adopting default multiple linear regression (MLR), the predictions of safflower oil content were made by 20–140 samples using a Perten Inframatic 8620 NIR spectrometer. Although the obtained interpolation results of MLR had desired accuracy, the extrapolation was extremely poor. The extrapolation determination coefficient (R²) and standard error (SE) of cross validation for MLR models were 0.63–0.78 and 3.71–4.44, respectively. In order to overcome the accuracy limitation of linear MLR models, a common suggestion is to use a nonlinear artificial neural network (ANN); however, it needs a large number of data to yield significant accurate results. We developed a novel robust hybrid fuzzy linear neural (HFLN) network to capture simultaneously linear and nonlinear patterns of data with a limited number of safflower samples. Empirical extrapolation results showed that the HFLN had higher R² (=0.85) and lower SE (=1.83) compared to those obtained by MLR and ANN models. It is concluded that hybrid methodologies could be used to construct efficient and appropriate models for estimation of seed oil content set up on NIR system.