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Abstract
A near infrared spectrometry (NIRS) instrument (Quantum 1200 I Plus Analyzer, LT Industries, USA), provided with optical fibers, was tested for the determination of sugar, dry matter, marc and α‐amino nitrogen in sugar beet. Diffuse reflection of beet material was measured immediately after production by a sawing system, commonly used in The Netherlands. Good correlations were found between the predicted values by NIRS and the results of the reference analyses for sugar (R2 = 0.97), dry matter (R2 = 0.96) and marc (R2 = 0.80). For a‐amino nitrogen the standard error of prediction was too high to get reliable results. Based on the NIRS results for beet material from several field trials it can be concluded that the NIRS can be used in agricultural sugar‐beet research.