title: Non-Invasive Examination of Plant Surfaces by Opto-Electronic Means--Using Russet as a Prime Example.
abstract: (1) BACKGROUND: Many disorders and diseases of agricultural produce change the physical features of surfaces of plant organs; in terms of russet, e.g., of apple or pear, affected fruit peel becomes rough and brown in color, which is associated with changes in light reflection; (2) OBJECTIVE AND METHODS: The objective of the present project was an interdisciplinary approach between horticultural science and engineering to examine two new innovative technologies as to their suitability for the non-destructive determination of surfaces of plant organs, using russet as an example, and (a) an industrial luster sensor (type CZ-H72, Keyence, Japan) and (b) a new type of a three-dimensional (3D) color microscope (VHX 5000); (3) RESULTS: In the case of russet, i.e., suberinization of the fruit peel, peel roughness increased by ca. 2.5-fold from ca. 20 µm to ca. 50 µm on affected fruit sections when viewed at 200× magnification. Russeted peel showed significantly reduced luster, with smaller variation than russet-devoid peel with larger variation; (4) CONCLUSION: These results indicate that both sensors are suitable for biological material and their use for non-contact, non-invasive detection of surface disorders on agricultural produce such as russet may be a very powerful tool for many applications in agriculture and beyond in the future.
authors.affiliation: INRES-Horticultural Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Bonn, D-53121 Bonn, Germany. m.klemm@gmx.net.
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Klemm
authors.affiliation: INRES-Horticultural Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Bonn, D-53121 Bonn, Germany. s7olroet@uni-bonn.de.
authors.forename: Olga
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Röttger
authors.affiliation: Institute of Agricultural Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Bonn, D-53115 Bonn, Germany. damerow@uni-bonn.de.
authors.forename: Lutz
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Damerow
authors.affiliation: INRES-Horticultural Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Bonn, D-53121 Bonn, Germany. mmblanke@uni-bonn.de.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Blanke
mesh_terms: D018556:Crops, Agricultural / Q000254:growth & development; D005638:Fruit / Q000254:growth & development*; D027845:Malus / Q000254:growth & development; D055095:Optics and Photonics / Q000295:instrumentation*; D010935:Plant Diseases; D031989:Pyrus / Q000254:growth & development; D013499:Surface Properties
keywords: 3D colour microscopy; glossiness; light reflection; luster sensor technology; non-invasive technology; plant surface feature; russet