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- Author or Editor: J.W. Hall x
- HortTechnology x
A video-imaging technique, using commercial software to process images obtained at 550 nm, was established to estimate chlorophyll content of cucumber fruit disks. The chlorophyll content of excised disks was extracted, determined, and regressed on the video-image grey level. They were linearly related. The change in grey level of the whole visible image accurately indicated the change of green color during fruit development on the vine and the loss of green color after 1 week of storage at 13C. The relationship of the chlorophyll content on grey level was quadratic for three imaging methods: 1) average grey level of the five disks; 2) average grey level of the whole cucumber image; and 3) average grey level of central one-third of the whole cucumber image. Chlorophyll content was most highly correlated to the grey level of the disks themselves (residual SD = 6.74 μg·cm-2), but this sampling technique was destructive. Both one-third of the fruit image (SD = 9.25 μg·cm-2) and the whole image (SD = 9.36 μg·cm-2) provided satisfactory precision. For simplicity, whole-fruit imaging is suitable for estimating fruit chlorophyll content and for quantifying fruit green color intensity. Potential use of this technique in product sorting and shelf life prediction of long English cucumbers is discussed.
The United States environmental horticulture industry, also known as the Green Industry, is comprised of wholesale nursery and sod growers; landscape architects, designers/builders, contractors, and maintenance firms; retail garden centers, home centers, and mass merchandisers with lawn and garden departments; and marketing intermediaries such as brokers and horticultural distribution centers (re-wholesalers). Environmental horticulture is one of the fastest growing segments of the nation's agricultural economy. In spite of the magnitude and recent growth in the Green Industry, there is surprisingly little information regarding its economic impact. Thus, the objective of this study was to estimate the economic impacts of the Green Industry at the national level. Economic impacts for the U.S. Green Industry in 2002 were estimated at $147.8 billion in output, 1,964,339 jobs, $95.1 billion in value added, $64.3 billion in labor income, and $6.9 billion in indirect business taxes, with these values expressed in 2004 dollars. In addition, this study evaluated the value and role of urban forest trees (woody ornamental trees); the total output of tree production and care services was valued at $14.55 billion, which translated into $21.02 billion in total output impacts, 259,224 jobs, and $14.12 billion in value added.