Plant Screen Mobile: an open-source mobile device app for plant trait analysis.

Area of Science:

• Plant science and phenotyping.
• Agricultural technology and crop monitoring.

Background:

• Leaf area is crucial for understanding plant growth, physiology, and genotype-environment interactions.
• Traditional leaf area measurements are often complex, destructive, or costly.
• There is a growing need for accessible, affordable, and efficient plant analysis tools.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a smartphone-based application for estimating plant leaf area and biomass.
• To provide a user-friendly and cost-effective solution for plant phenotyping.

Main Methods:

• Development of the Plant Screen Mobile application with user-adjustable classification algorithms.
• Utilizing smartphone imaging for data acquisition in diverse environments (lab, greenhouse, field).
• Validation through case studies on Eragrostis and Musa plants, comparing results with destructive measurements.

Main Results:

• Plant Screen Mobile accurately estimates projected leaf area and biomass.
• The app demonstrated highly significant correlations with destructive measurements and established screening systems.
• On-the-fly classification distinguishes plant tissue from background effectively.

Conclusions:

• Smartphones equipped with Plant Screen Mobile are effective for rapid quantification of plant development.
• The application supports analysis of various plant architectures and traits beyond leaf area, including color and shape.
• This technology offers a scalable solution for plant phenotyping in research and agriculture.