PH—Postharvest Technology: Evaluation of Cut Lily Flower Vase Life by Computer Vision

Computer vision systems have been used increasingly in the horticultural industry for the objective assessment of product quality features. The application of this technique to the floricultural industry is a new concept. In the current study, the use of computer vision as a means of determining the vase life of cut lily flowers was examined. Both the shape and the colour of the cut flower images captured on days 7, 9 and 11 following harvest were analysed. Consumer panel assessment of the cut flowers was also done for comparison. The experimental results show that the colour assessment by the computer vision system and consumer panel gave good agreement. Misclassification by computer vision for colour assessment was 10%. However, it was found that the image analysis of shape based on area and polar descriptors yielded poorer results because the computer vision system only analysed the shape in one direction.