NIR spectra of Hawaii avocados

Avocados are an important economic crop of Hawaii, contributing to approximately 3% of all avocados grown in the United States. To export Hawaii-grown avocados, growers must follow strict United States Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA-APHIS) regulations. Currently, only the Sharwil variety can be exported relying on a systems approach, which allows fruit to be exported without quarantine treatment; treatments that can negatively impact the quality of avocados. However, for the systems approach to be applied, Hawaii avocado growers must positively identify the avocados variety as Sharwil with APHIS prior to export. Currently, variety identification relies on physical characteristics, which can be erroneous and subjective, and has been disputed by growers. Once the fruit is harvested, variety identification is difficult. While molecular markers can be used through DNA extraction from the skin, the process leaves the fruit unmarketable. This study ..., Avocado samples
931 avocados were acquired through the only packing house on the Island of Hawaii, Kane Plantation Avocados in Honaunau, from June 2022 through June 2023. Avocados were kept between 4°C and 6°C until one to eight days before spectral measurements. The selection of avocado varieties was based on seasonal availability. Sharwil (n=537) avocados were collected in June, July, and September of 2022, as well as January and March of 2023. Beshore (n=52) avocados were collected between June and July of 2022. Yamagata (n=32) avocados were collected in June and July of 2022. Nishikawa (n=97) avocados were collected in March 2023 and Greengold (n=129) avocados were collected in February and March of 2023. Two other non-commercial varieties were also collected in January and March 2023; one is colloquially known as Cannon ball (n=43) for its shape and size and the other is an unnamed seedling of Sharwil (n=41).
The spectra data was collected and processed using the below methods:

A..., , # NIR spectra of Hawaii avocados

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.98sf7m0rj](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.98sf7m0rj)

The dataset contains two XLSX files; **OO_All199_ave_SNV** is spectra of three varieties of Hawaii avocado in 2022, collected using a bench-top near-infrared spectrometer, **Felix_2nd_ave** is spectra of five varieties of Hawaii avocado in 2023, collected using a handheld near-infrared spectrometer.

## Description of the data and file structure

**OO_All199_ave_SNV**

This is the common wide format for spectral data, showing absorbance at each wavelength for each sample

* *Variety* Avocado varieties: Beshore, Sharwil, or Yamagata
* *Sample ID* Internal reference ID for each fruit
* *1000.087 - 2400.404* (Column C to Column QE) wavelengths in nm

**Felix_2nd_ave**

This is also in the common wide format for spectral data, showing absorbance at each wavelength for each sample

* *Harvest Date* Date each avocado was harvested
* *NIR Date* Date each avocado was...