New Zealand Journal of Crop and Horticultural Science abstracts
Estimation of apple fruit surface area
MURRAY CLAYTON
NEVIN D. AMOS
Department of Agricultural Engineering
Massey University
Palmerston North, New Zealand
NIGEL H. BANKS
Department of Plant Science
Massey University
Palmerston North, New Zealand
R. HUGH MORTON
Department of Statistics
Massey University
Palmerston North, New Zealand
Abstract Surface areas of fruits and vegetables are often
estimated by assuming that they resemble a shape from which surface area can be
mathematically calculated. Two such models, sphere and ellipsoid, were compared
to three alternative approaches for estimating surface areas of apple fruit
(
Malus domestica Borkh.) of four cultivars (`Royal Gala', `Braeburn',
`Red Delicious', and `Granny Smith'). Sphere and ellipsoid models
underestimated actual surface area by 15 and 18%, respectively, with poor
correlation between predicted surface area and actual surface area (estimated
by measuring the area of adhesive tape required to cover the fruit surface). A
method based on finite elements marginally overestimated surface area but
reliably predicted surface area of small `Royal Gala' and `Braeburn' apples and
had reasonably close correlation with actual surface area. Non-linear
regression models, developed from the very strong correlation between actual
surface area and both fruit mass and volume, were the most accurate predictors
of fruit surface area of the methods tested.
Keywords apple; Malus domestica Borkh.; `Royal Gala';
`Braeburn'; `Red Delicious'; `Granny Smith'; surface area; estimation;
regression; finite element; sphere; ellipsoid; mass; volume; dimensional
measurement
New Zealand Journal of Crop and Horticultural Science, 1995, Vol. 23:
345-349
0114-0671/95/2303-0345 $2.50/0 (c) The Royal Society of New Zealand
1995
Short communication
PDF file of entire paper: medium quality (332K); (scanned from paper original: notes about this process)
This year's abstracts |
Journal home page |
All abstracts |
Publishing home page
