Near Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) is an analytical technique based on the interaction between light and molecules. It enables the non-invasive, potentially non-destructive, analysis of a wide variety of samples while maintaining a good balance between its cost, time, and performance. Consequently, it has become a routine method in the context of plant breeding to evaluate the biochemical properties of agricultural products, such as protein or oil content in seeds. More recently, it has also been used to evaluate more complex and integrative traits that are less related to the physico-chemical properties of the samples under study. It has also been proposed to discriminate species or varieties in the context of barcoding, suggesting its potential as a genetic marker. Using primarily examples from research projects to which I contributed, I will illustrate these various applications of NIRS in the context of plant breeding. I will also introduce the concept of phenomic selection, which, analogously to genomic selection, proposes to exploit the potential of NIRS as a genetic marker to predict any heritable trait. I will also review the recent literature on this subject and propose some prospects in various crops.
