Wheat grain width: a clue for re-exploring visual indicators of grain weight

BACKGROUND: Mean grain weight (MGW) is among the most frequently measured parameters in wheat breeding and physiology. Although in the recent decades, various wheat grain analyses (e.g. counting, and determining the size, color, or shape features) have been facilitated, thanks to the automated image processing systems, MGW estimations have been limited to using few number of image-derived indices; i.e. mainly the linear or power models developed based on the projected area (Area). Following a preliminary observation which indicated the potential of grain width in improving the predictions, the present study was conducted to explore more efficient indices for increasing the precision of image-based MGW estimations. For this purpose, an image archive of the grains was processed, which were harvested from a 2-year field experiment carried out with 3 replicates under two irrigation conditions and included 15 cultivar mixture treatments (so the archive was consisted of 180 images including more than 72,000 grains). RESULTS: It was observed that among the more than 30 evaluated indices of grain size and shape, indicators of grain width (i.e. Minor & MinFeret) along with 8 other empirical indices had a higher correlation with MGW, compared with Area. The most precise MGW predictions were obtained using the Area × Circularity, Perimeter × Circularity, and Area/Perimeter indices. Furthermore, it was found that (i) grain width and the Area/Perimeter ratio were the common factors in the structure of the superior predictive indices; and (ii) the superior indices had the highest correlation with grain width, rather than with their mathematical components. Moreover, comparative efficiency of the superior indices almost remained stable across the 4 environmental conditions. Eventually, using the selected indices, ten simple linear models were developed and validated for MGW prediction, which indicated a relatively higher precision than the current Area-based models. The considerable effect of enhancing image resolution on the precision of the models has been also evidenced. CONCLUSIONS: It is expected that the findings of the present study, along with the simple predictive linear models developed and validated using new image-derived indices, could improve the precision of the image-based MGW estimations, and consequently facilitate wheat breeding and physiological assessments. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13007-022-00891-1.