Abstract

The amount of water for the cultivation of citrus is different based on the growing period. The effect of water stress induces to enhance of sugar accumulation in citrus. The water content in the leaves of citrus can be a index for watering during cultivation. The purpose of this study is to determine the water content of citrus leaves non-destructively by using near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). Citrus leaves were prepared from 'Okitsu' Satusuma mandarin leaves (Citrus unshiu Marc.) ranging from 20.80 to 69.98% of water content by loss on drying method, and NIR reflectance spectra of citrus leaves were acquired by using a fiber optic probe. It was found that the variation of absorbance band 1450 nm from OH vibration of water depending on the water content change. Partial least squares regression (PLSR) was applied to develop a calibration model over the spectral range 1100-1700 nm. The calibration model predicted the water content for the validation set with a standard errors of prediction (SEP) of 0.97%. In order to validate the developed calibration model, routine analyses were performed using independently prepared citrus leaves. The NIR routine analyses showed good results with those of loss on drying method with a SEP of 0.81%. The rapid and non-destructive determination of the water content in citrus leaves was successfully performed by portable NIR system.