Horticulture
Sensegood spectrophotometer for color analysis in horticulture
The visual appearance of flowers, fresh fruits and vegetables is one of the first quality determination made by the consumer. Often the appearance of the commodity is the most critical factor in the initial sale. There are several research papers published focusing on use of color measuring instruments to study the colors in plants, flowers, fruits, and vegetables. Further discussion narrates few of them.
Visual color evaluation, however, is often flawed. [1] There are advantages of instrumental color measurement. This is in agreement with Ayala-Silva et al. [2] where they opined that the instrumental color measurement is more precise and more informative than any other color charts while describing Amaryllis flower color. Researchers recorded data in L*, a* and b*color space coordinates.
Yousef et al., [3] studied the influence of different harvest dates and ripening periods on fruit quality. They examined the skin color parameters L*, a*, b* and C* and ho values considering different harvest dates and storage at 20o C.
Temperature affects color, hence, there are often more vivid colors in cool northern gardens than hot summer ones. Plant stress, such as from drought, insect attack, or plant nutrition (too much or little) also can cause different levels of pigments in flowers, and result into different colors. [4]
Sensegood spectrophotometer is an analytical color measurement instrument that is widely accepted in the industry and research fraternity. It comprehensively evaluates the color attributes of various samples, including solids, liquids, powders and pastes. Large viewing area (sensor’s field of view) and rotating sample platform averages out sample and produces accurate repeatable color attributes. Sensegood spectrophotometer is the versatile device that is engineered to work as handheld/portable, benchtop/table-top or in-process/online color measurement instrument.
References :
- Voss, D. H. (1992). Relating Colorimeter Measurement of Plant Color to the Royal Horticultural Society Colour Chart, American Society for Horticultural Science, 27(12), 1256-1260. https://journals.ashs.org/hortsci/view/journals/hortsci/27/12/article-p1256.xml
- Ayala-Silva, T. ; Schnell, R. J. ; Meerow, A. W. ; Winterstein, M. ; Cervantes, C. ; Brown, J. S., "Determination of color and fruit traits of half-sib families of mango (Mangifera indica L.).", 118th Annual Meeting, Horti. Soc. Florida, USA, 2005.
- Yousef ARM, M Mhmoud, M Hassaneine. Influence of different harvest dates and ripening periods on fruit quality and oil characteristics of Fuerte avocados. Agric Biol J N Am. 2010;1(6):1223-1230. https://doi.org/10.5251/abjna.2010.1.6.1223.1230
- The how and why of plant color by Dr. Leonard Perry, Horticulture Professor, University of Vermont. https://pss.uvm.edu/ppp/articles/colorwhy.html