Possibilities of cucumber powdery mildew detection by visible and near-infrared spectroscopy
¹Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technology, Faculty of Agriculture, Institute of Plant and Soil Science, Liela street 2, LV-3001 Jelgava, Latvia
²Riga Technical University, Faculty of Power and Electrical Engineering, Kaļķu street 1, LV-1658 Riga, Latvia
³Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technology, Faculty of Food Technology, Department of Chemistry, Liela street 2, LV-3001 Jelgava, Latvia
*Correspondence: Ina.Alsina@llu.lv
Abstract:
Cucumbers are one of the most demanded and widely grown greenhouse
vegetables. Important factors that influence quality and quantity of yield are
diseases. Powdery mildew (caused by Podosphaera
xanthii and/or Golovinomyces
cichoracearum), is one of the most harmful cucumber diseases. Early
detection of mildew via non-destructive methods can optimize schemes of
fungicide application. The study aimed to find regularities in the reflected
light spectra, indices described in the literature, and severity of mildew.
Plants were grown in the polycarbonate greenhouse under artificial lighting in
a 16 h photoperiod with PAR at the tips of plants 200 ± 30 µmol m-2 s-1.
Leaf reflection spectra were obtained using spectroradiometer
RS-3500 (Ltd. Spectral Evolution). Spectral range 350–2,500 nm, bandwidth
1 nm. The severity of cucumber mildew was evaluated using 10 point
scale (0- no symptoms, … 9 – the plant is dead). The vegetation indices found
in the literature have been calculated. The obtained results show that the
calculated indices have different sensitivities. The strongest correlation
between the degree of cucumbers infection with powdery mildew and the light
reflectance spectrum was found in the green range of visible light around 550 nm.
Disease-Water Stress Index-2 (DSWI-2), Structure Intensive Pigment Index
(SIPI), and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) are the most suitable
indices for determining powdery mildew in cucumbers. New indices for detection
of powdery mildew have been created. None of the studied indices allows
determining the powdery mildew at the early stages of disease development when
powdery mildew severity is below 10%.
Key words:
Cucumis sativus, DSWI, Golovinomyces cichoracearum, NDVI, Podosphaera xanthii, SIPI