Shape development of wheat seeds during germination

Abstract

Image analysis is a useful tool for seed monitoring during germination. An important advantage of the image analysis consists in easy determination of the dimensional changes in time without any manipulation with the germinated seeds. Many researches focus on the final germination phase and the image analysis is used for automatic detection of the visible radicle protrusion from the seed coat. However, an interesting behavior can be found in the whole germination process. The aim of this paper consists in development of an automatic method for observation and detection the image processes connected with seed germination. The setup consists of a photographic camera, a stand, an illumination LED panel and a glass vessel for the germination test. The camera is controlled via a computer and images are stored in the hard disk. The area of the seeds and their shape parameters were determined by a special program. The development of image moments is presented in our work. It was found that image moments can be useful tools for automatic detection of the primary shoot during the final germination phase as well as during the imbibition process.