Accuracy of using leaf blade length and leaf blade width measurements to calculate the leaf area of Solanum aethiopicum Shum group
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Date
2018
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Heliyon
Abstract
Leaf area is an important parameter when determining growth response under
normal as well as stressed environments. No attempt had been made to come up
with an affordable but accurate alternative of measuring leaf size in research
neglected leafy vegetable crops. Other techniques such as use of leaf area meters
are either destructive, expensive or both. A study was conducted to determine
leaf area in like-shaped leaves of research neglected crop plants, taking case of
S. aethiopicum Shum group (SAS) germplasm. Data was collected on 552
individual plants (including pure lines and hybrids) at eight weeks after planting
where a third fully open leaf from top of each plant was considered. Leaf blade
length (LBL) and leaf blade width (LBW) were linearly measured while leaf area
(LA) was measured using a leaf area meter. This was followed by correlation
and regression analysis of LA with LBL, LBW, and LBL þ LBW. Correlation
coefficients at p < 0.001 ranged between 0.84 and 0.92, 0.79 and 0.88, 0.86 and
0.95 for total germplasm, pure lines and hybrids, respectively. The coefficient of determination (R2) ranged between 0.72 and 0.92. The best prediction for LA was
obtained with hybrid plants (LA ¼ -165.82 þ 5.38LBL þ 16.17LBW) at R2 of
92%. The implication is that we can accurately and affordably predict LA from
duo measurements of LBL and LBW in SAS as well as in other crops having
similar leaf shapes.
Description
Keywords
Biophysics, Ecology, Plant biology
Citation
Mildred Julian Nakanwagi, Godfrey Sseremba, Nahamya Pamela Kabod, Michael Masanza Elizabeth Balyejusa Kizito. Accuracy of using leaf blade length and leaf blade width measurements to calculate the leaf area of Solanum aethiopicum Shum group. Heliyon 4 (2018) e01093. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2018. e01093