Both the SMLR and PLS procedures were able to predict the
disease severity well. The PLS procedure was better suited for handling
the full absorbance spectra than the SMLR procedure, with
Method 1 predicting disease in the validation dataset with an R2
of 0.77 and RMSD of 5.6% compared to the R2 of 0.69 and RMSD
of 6.4% by Method 2. This is consistent with results of Min and Lee
(2005). The best predictions were made by the SMLR procedure
using absorbance spectra reduced based on B-value. This method
predicted disease with an R2 of 0.82 and RMSD of 4.9%.