Optical properties of developing pip and stone fruit reveal underlying structural changes.
Birgit Seifert1, Manuela Zude, Lorenzo Spinelli
1Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering Potsdam-Bornim, 14469, Potsdam, Germany.
Analyzing fruit optical properties reveals differences in apple and plum development. Plum
Area of Science:
- Horticultural science
- Plant physiology
- Optical physics
Background:
- Non-destructive fruit analysis relies on optical properties.
- Classical spectroscopy uses visible and near-infrared light.
- Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) minimizes scattering effects but has limitations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To separately analyze absorption (μa) and reduced scattering (μs') coefficients in developing apples and plums.
- To investigate how these optical properties change during fruit development.
- To assess the applicability of NDVI in horticultural applications based on differentiated optical properties.
Main Methods:
- Time-resolved reflectance spectroscopy (540-940 nm) was used.
- Optical properties were measured in apple (Malus × domestica 'Elstar') and plum (Prunus domestica 'Tophit plus') at four developmental stages.
- Absorption coefficient (μa) and reduced scattering coefficient (μs') were analyzed separately.
Main Results:
- Chlorophyll absorption peak observed at 670 nm for both fruits.
- Plum showed significantly greater changes in μs' (41.5%) compared to apple (14.7%) during development.
- Plum exhibited enhanced scattering power, indicating less isotropic structures than apple.
Conclusions:
- Differentiated optical properties provide deeper insights into fruit development than NDVI alone.
- Variability in plum's scattering properties explains discrepancies between NDVI and absolute μa values.
- NDVI is more reliable for apples due to their more constant scattering properties.
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