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In The Field

with CID Bio-Science & Felix Instruments


A monthly round-up of published research papers featuring

CID Bio-Science and Felix Instruments measurement tools.

What's in this month's edition?

1. High red/far-red light aids fern Platycerium bifurcatum's light acclimation.

2. Managing batch variability in fruit spectroscopy with minimal adjustments.

3. Nitrogen-sensitive model for CO₂ and H₂O gas exchange in grassland species.

4. Nanoparticle coatings extend Cavendish banana shelf life.

5. Root diameter, depth, and season impact root lifespan in Alpine meadows.

Want to be included in next month's edition?

We want to share your research! If you have done a study using one of our instruments, let us know, and we will share it!


Please send your info and research to strimble@cid-inc.com or simply reply to this email!



The high red/far-red ratio supports the acclimation of fern Platycerium bifurcatum to high light.


Light's red-to-far-red (R/FR) ratio provides plants with information to regulate their pigment composition and photosynthetic activity to avoid photosynthetic phosphorylation disturbances, photosystem II (PSII) structure damage, or assimilation of tissues. Scientists studied these responses in leaves and sporotrophophylls of Platycerium bifurcatum (ferns) by keeping them in light with high or low R/FR ratio for six months before transferring them to high light of 1,200 μmol quantum m−2 s−1.


Scientists used nondestructive chlorophyll fluorescence kinetics analysis to track changes in PSII photochemical activity, pigment content, and the Photochemical Reflectance Index. 


The results showed that plants growing in high R/FR light could prepare for future efficient conversion of absorbed photons. It also allowed plants to increase levels of photoprotective compounds and shield the sporotrophophyll from photoinhibition, enabling the leaves to continue their roles in nutrition and reproduction.


Click here to read the full paper | CI-710s SpectraVue Leaf Spectrometer

Handling batch-to-batch variability in portable spectroscopy of fresh fruit with minimal parameter adjustment. 


To overcome the problem of updating near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy models for fresh produce quality prediction due to the introduction of new variables, "a semi-supervised parameter-free calibration enhancement (PFCE) approach" was tested. PFCE updating of the primary model to predict fruit moisture and total soluble solids content was done in two ways- individually for each of three batches of pears or sequentially for the subsequent batches of kiwifruits, and included testing for transferred models. 


The partial least-square regression analysis showed that the PFCE calibration method successfully predicted quality in new fruit batches without parameter optimization. The sequential updating method performed better than individual batch updating, as models learned from previous batches. 


The model could also be transferred to new instruments, allowing for sharing among scientists or commercial stakeholders.


Click here to read the full paper |F-750 Produce Quality Meter

A Nitrogen Sensitive Model of Leaf Carbon Dioxide and Water Vapour Gas Exchange: Application to 13 Key Species From Differently Managed Mountain Grassland Ecosystems.


The EU project ECOMONT (Project No. ENV4-CT95-0179), which focused on land-use change effects in the mountains, integrated a model on the impact of leaf nitrogen content, an indicator of nutrient availability, to study intraspecific gas exchange variability. 


The leaf model that could predict stomatal conductance and net photosynthesis for any microclimatic variables was tested for 13 species in three grasslands with varying land use- a pasture, a hay meadow, and a 35-year abandoned plot. The model was validated using independent data on daily photosynthesis and stomatal conductance under the occurring environmental conditions, 


 A sensitivity analysis tested the model's ability to track leaf nitrogen content changes and their variation in relation to environmental factors. The resultant leaf models were used to scale up gas exchange from leaf level to plant, canopy, and landscape levels.


Click here to read the full paper | CI-202 Portable Laser Leaf Area Meter

Effect of Nanoparticle-Enriched Coatings on the Shelf Life of Cavendish Bananas. 


A study tested the efficacy of various combinations of chitosan nanoparticles with Moringa oleifera or Aloe vera extract as edible coatings to preserve 'Cavendish' bananas' postharvest quality. The bananas were dipped into treatments of (1) 50% Aloe vera, (2) 10% Moringa oleifera, (3) 50% Aloe vera + 2% chitosan nanoparticle (AV+CN), and (4) 10% Moringa oleifera + 2% chitosan nanoparticle 2% (MO+CN), and stored at room temperature for 30 days, with fruit quality testing after 25 days.


Adding chitosan nanoparticles to coatings significantly altered banana respiration, ethylene rate, firmness, and total phenolic content. The best results were shown by the MO+CN coating with the highest reduction in weight loss (23%), respiration (18 mg/kg/h), and ethylene production (144 µL/kg/h), followed by treatments AV+CN, MO, and AV. The MO+CN coating best-preserved fruit quality parameters of total soluble solids, color, texture, and odor and had an overall consumer acceptance score of 6/9, proving that it was the best coating tested and that adding chitosan nanoparticles improves the efficiency of Moringa oleifera coatings in preserving banana postharvest quality.


Click here to read the full paper |F-950 Three Gas Analyzer

Effects of Root Diameter, Branch Order, Root Depth, Season and Warming on Root Longevity in an Alpine Meadow.


Scientists used a minirhizotron system in Tibet's alpine meadows to assess root dynamics and survival over two years by measuring the effects of warming, root diameter, root depth, branch order, and birth season on root lifespan.


Results showed that root diameter, depth, and branch order were positively correlated with root lifespan. A 0.1 mm increase in diameter reduced mortality by 19.3%, and a one-level branch order rise decreased the root death ratio by 43.8%. Roots born later in July-August and September-October had 26.8 and 56.5 %, respectively, less mortality than roots born in May–mid-July.


Warming made roots thinner, deeper, and less branched. Most were born in spring but had a shorter lifespan of 44 days compared to roots growing in ambient control conditions; however, in a single warm season, root diameter was not correlated with lifespan. Though root diameter, depth, and season of birth are crucial, root branch order was the parameter that affected root lifespan the most in alpine meadows.


Click here to read the full paper | CI-600 In-Situ Root Imager

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