Efficient Discrimination of Some Moss Species by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy and Chemometrics

Abstract

Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy with the attenuated total reflectance (ATR) technique was used to classify 14 samples (11 species) from three moss families (Mielichhoferiaceae, Bryaceae, and Mniaceae). The FT-IR spectra ranging from 4000 cm−1 to 650 cm−1 of the 14 samples were obtained. To group the spectra according to their spectral similarity in a dendrogram, cluster analysis and principal component analysis (PCA) were performed. Cluster analysis combined with PCA was used to give a rough result of classification among the moss samples. However, some species belonging to the same genus exhibited very similar chemical components and similar FTIR spectra. Discrete wavelet transform (DWT) was used to enhance the differences among species with similar chemical components and FT-IR spectra. Three scales were selected as the feature-extracting space in the DWT domain. Results showed that FT-IR spectroscopy combined with chemometrics was suitable for a systematic research classification of bryophytes.