[Response] Thanks for your comments. We have added more details as suggested. Each recorded spectrum was obtained by averaging 16 scans at a resolution of 4 cm-1. Each sample was measured three times. The average of the three spectra obtained from each same sample was used in subsequent analysis. The spectra file of samples was pretreated through normalization to reduce measurement error. Each spectrum was aligned to the baseline using instrumentation software. Line139-143.
The external validation was not properly conducted. The author used a subset of the data that was collected in the same experiment and labelled it as test set, which is not correct. ANN is notorious for overfitting and the only way to prove that the model is working is by conducting proper external validation. To do so, a new batch of oil and potatoes should be subjected to the same experimental procedure and conditions as was previously done to generate the modeling data and then predict the response of interest from the new set of spectra using the developed model.
[Response] Thanks for your comments, we have added the external validation in the Manuscript as suggested. Line 256-267
5. The author compared the ANN model to PLS one; however, he/she did not mention any details related to the development of the PLS model. Was it also developed using only three FTIR peaks? Or were the full spectra of the samples used to develop the model?