Nondestructive Determination of Total Chlorophyll Content in Maize Using Three-Wavelength Diffuse Reflectance

Chlorophyll in leaves plays a vital role in plant growth and can be used as an indicator of a plant's nutritional status. In this paper, an experimental setup for measuring total chlorophyll content using three-wavelength diffuse reflectance is proposed, for which light-emitting diodes with peak wavelengths of 640, 660, and 940 nm are used. Two different maize strains, Zhengdan-958 and Xundan-20, fertilized at different levels before the jointing stage, were used to validate this setup. Regression analyses between remission function values of diffuse reflectance and SPAD values, as well as remission function values of diffuse reflectance and the actual total chlorophyll content, were performed. The determination coefficients between remission function values and the actual total chlorophyll content were 0.9766 for Zhengdan-958 leaves and 0.9612 for Xundan-20 leaves. The experimental results validated the feasibility of using the diffuse reflectance spectrum to determine the total chlorophyll content. This paper also provides guidance for the development of a portable instrument to determine the actual chlorophyll content.