Design and Implementation of a Measuring Device to Determine the Content of Pigments in Plant Leaves

Abstract

The design and implementation of a measuring device for the determination of pigment content in plant leaves is a topic of essential importance in plant biology, agriculture, and environmental research. The timely and sufficiently accurate determination of the content of these molecules provides valuable insight into the health, photosynthetic activity, and physiological state of plants. This paper presents the key aspects and results of the development and implementation of such a measuring device. It makes it possible to measure a larger number of pigments per type compared with the devices for commercial use that are currently known to us, and the accuracy of measurements depends mostly on the specific type of plant that is being tracked. The developed device presents a measurement accuracy ranging between 72% and 97% compared with a reference method and between 87% and 90% compared with a reference technique. Also, by using the device, a significant reduction in time and required resources can be achieved in measuring the content of pigments and nitrogen in plant leaves. This is a prerequisite for the more effective monitoring of the growth and health of plants, as well as optimizing the process of growing and caring for them. The work will be continued with the focus of the research aimed at generalizing the models for determining pigments and nitrogen in plants.