The potential of using visible and near infrared diffuse reflectance spectroscopy to assess soluble solids content (SSC) of intact navel orange was examined. A total 40 samples were used to develop the calibration and prediction models. NIR spectral data were collected in the spectral region between 350 and 2 500 nm and their second derivative spectra were used for the present study. Different scattering correction algorithms (no preprocessing and multiplicative scattering correction (MSC)) were compared. Camibration models based on different spectral ranges, different derivatives and different kinds of statistical models including partial least square (PLS) and principal component regression (PCR) were also compared. The best results of PLS models with the second derivative spectra are r = 0.929, RMSEC = 0.517 and RMSEP = 0.592 in the wavelength range of 361-2 488 nm. The results show that this method is feasible for non destructive assessing of SSC of the navel orange.