Vegetation Indices for Early Grey Mould Detection in Lettuce Grown under Different Lighting Conditions

Early detection of pathogenic fungi in controlled environment areas can prevent major food production losses. Grey mould caused by Botrytis cinerea is often detected as an infection on lettuce. This paper explores the use of vegetation indices for early detection and monitoring of grey mould on lettuce under different lighting conditions in controlled environment chambers. The aim was focused on the potential of using vegetation indices for the early detection of grey mould and on evaluating their changes during disease development in lettuce grown under different lighting conditions. The experiment took place in controlled environment chambers, where day/night temperatures were 21 ± 2/17 ± 2 °C, a 16 h photoperiod was established, and relative humidity was 70 ± 10% under different lighting conditions: high-pressure sodium (HPS) and light-emitting diode (LED) lamps. Lettuces were inoculated by 7-day-old fungus Botrytis cinerea isolate at the BBCH 21. As a control, non-inoculated lettuces were grown under HPS and LEDs (non-inoculated). Then, the following were evaluated: Anthocyanin Reflectance Index 2 (ARI2); Carotenoid Reflectance Index 2 (CRI2); Structure Intensive Pigment Index (SIPI); Flavanol Reflectance Index (FRI); Greenness (G); Greenness 2 (G2); Redness (R); Blue (B); Blue Green Index 2 (BGI2); Browning Index 2 (BRI2); Lichtenthaler Index 1 (LIC1); Pigment Specific Simple Ratio (PSSRa and PSSRb); Gitelson and Merzlyak (GM1 and GM2); Zarco Tejada-Miller Index (ZMI); Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI); Simple Ratio (SR); Red-Eye Vegetation Stress Index (RVSI); Photochemical Reflectance Index (PRI); Photochemical Reflectance Index 515 (PRI515); Water Band Index (WBI); specific disease index for individual study (fD); Healthy Index (HI); Plant Senescence Reflectance (PSRI); Vogelmann Red Edge Index (VREI1); Red Edge Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (RENDVI); and Modified Red Edge Simple Ratio (MRESRI). Our results showed that the PSRI and fD vegetation indices significantly detected grey mould on lettuce grown under both lighting systems (HPS and LEDs) the day after inoculation. The results conclusively affirmed that NDVI, PSRI, HI, fD, WBI, RVSI, PRI, PRI515, CRI2, SIPI, chlorophyll index PSSRb, and coloration index B were identified as the best indicators for Botrytis cinerea infection on green-leaf lettuce (Lactuca sativa L. cv Little Gem) at the early stage of inoculated lettuce's antioxidative response against grey mould with a significant increase in chlorophyll indices.