Sensors 2011, 11(6), 6411-6424; doi:10.3390/s110606411
Article

Nitrogen Concentration Estimation in Tomato Leaves by VIS-NIR Non-Destructive Spectroscopy

Valentina Ulissi 1 email, Francesca Antonucci 2,* email, Paolo Benincasa 1 email, Michela Farneselli 1 email, Giacomo Tosti 1 email, Marcello Guiducci 1 email, Francesco Tei 1 email, Corrado Costa 2 email, Federico Pallottino 2 email, Luigi Pari 2 email and Paolo Menesatti 2 email
1 Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, University of Perugia, Borgo XX Giugno 74, 06121, Perugia, Italy 2 Agricultural Engineering Research Unit of the Agricultural Research Council (CRA-ING), Via della Pascolare 16, 00015, Monterotondo scalo (Rome), Italy
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 7 April 2011; in revised form: 7 June 2011 / Accepted: 15 June 2011 / Published: 16 June 2011
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sensing of Toxic and Hazardous Metals in Various Environmental Media)
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Abstract: Nitrogen concentration in plants is normally determined by expensive and time consuming chemical analyses. As an alternative, chlorophyll meter readings and N-NO3 concentration determination in petiole sap were proposed, but these assays are not always satisfactory. Spectral reflectance values of tomato leaves obtained by visible-near infrared spectrophotometry are reported to be a powerful tool for the diagnosis of plant nutritional status. The aim of the study was to evaluate the possibility and the accuracy of the estimation of tomato leaf nitrogen concentration performed through a rapid, portable and non-destructive system, in comparison with chemical standard analyses, chlorophyll meter readings and N-NO3 concentration in petiole sap. Mean reflectance leaf values were compared to each reference chemical value by partial least squares chemometric multivariate methods. The correlation between predicted values from spectral reflectance analysis and the observed chemical values showed in the independent test highly significant correlation coefficient (r = 0.94). The utilization of the proposed system, increasing efficiency, allows better knowledge of nutritional status of tomato plants, with more detailed and sharp information and on wider areas. More detailed information both in space and time is an essential tool to increase and stabilize crop quality levels and to optimize the nutrient use efficiency.
Keywords: spectrophotometry; VIS-NIR; tomato leaf; non-destructive; SPAD chlorophyll meter readings; SAP test; leaf analysis; nutritional status; chemometry

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Cite This Article

MDPI and ACS Style

Ulissi, V.; Antonucci, F.; Benincasa, P.; Farneselli, M.; Tosti, G.; Guiducci, M.; Tei, F.; Costa, C.; Pallottino, F.; Pari, L.; Menesatti, P. Nitrogen Concentration Estimation in Tomato Leaves by VIS-NIR Non-Destructive Spectroscopy. Sensors 2011, 11, 6411-6424.

AMA Style

Ulissi V, Antonucci F, Benincasa P, Farneselli M, Tosti G, Guiducci M, Tei F, Costa C, Pallottino F, Pari L, Menesatti P. Nitrogen Concentration Estimation in Tomato Leaves by VIS-NIR Non-Destructive Spectroscopy. Sensors. 2011; 11(6):6411-6424.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Ulissi, Valentina; Antonucci, Francesca; Benincasa, Paolo; Farneselli, Michela; Tosti, Giacomo; Guiducci, Marcello; Tei, Francesco; Costa, Corrado; Pallottino, Federico; Pari, Luigi; Menesatti, Paolo. 2011. "Nitrogen Concentration Estimation in Tomato Leaves by VIS-NIR Non-Destructive Spectroscopy." Sensors 11, no. 6: 6411-6424.

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