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In-Field Leaf Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy for Pre-Symptomatic Detection of Potato Late Blight Disease.

In Applied spectroscopy

We report on the use of leaf diffuse reflectance spectroscopy for plant disease detection. A smartphone-operated, compact diffused reflectance spectrophotometer is used for field collection of leaf diffuse reflectance spectra to enable pre-symptomatic detection of the progression of potato late blight disease post inoculation with oomycete pathogen Phytophthora infestans. Neural-network-based analysis predicts infection with >96% accuracy, only 24 hours after inoculation with the pathogen, and 9 days before visual late blight symptoms appear. Our study demonstrates the potential of using portable optical spectroscopy in tandem with machine learning analysis for early diagnosis of plant diseases.

Zhou Chen, Bucklew Victor, Edwards Perry, Zhang Chenji, Yang Jinkai, Ryan Philip, Hughes David, Qu Xinshun, Liu Zhiwen

2023-Mar-10

diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, machine learning, miniature spectrophotometer, potato late blight, pre-symptomatic detection