Prediction of the Leaf Primordia of Potato Tubers Using Sensor Fusion and Wavelength Selection

The sprouting of potato tubers during storage is a significant problem that suppresses obtaining high quality seeds or fried products. In this study, the potential of fusing data obtained from visible (VIS)/near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopic and hyperspectral imaging systems was investigated, to improve the prediction of primordial leaf count as a significant sign for tubers sprouting. Electronic and lab measurements were conducted on whole tubers of Frito Lay 1879 (FL1879) and Russet Norkotah (R.Norkotah) potato cultivars. The interval partial least squares (IPLS) technique was adopted to extract the most effective wavelengths for both systems. Linear regression was utilized using partial least squares regression (PLSR), and the best calibration model was chosen using four-fold cross-validation. Then the prediction models were obtained using separate test data sets. Prediction results were enhanced compared with those obtained from individual systems’ models. The values of the correlation coefficient (the ratio between performance to deviation, or r(RPD)) were 0.95(3.01) and 0.9s6(3.55) for FL1879 and R.Norkotah, respectively, which represented a feasible improvement by 6.7%(35.6%) and 24.7%(136.7%) for FL1879 and R.Norkotah, respectively. The proposed study shows the possibility of building a rapid, noninvasive, and accurate system or device that requires minimal or no sample preparation to track the sprouting activity of stored potato tubers.