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Image Analysis of Whole Grains: A Noninvasive Method to Predict Semolina Yield in Durum Wheat

¹Istituto Sperimentale per la Cerealicoltura, via Cassia 176, 00191 Rome, Italy. ²Corresponding author. Phone: +39 6 3295705; Fax +39 6 36298457; E-mail: novaro@cerealicoltura.it ³Stazione Sperimentale di Granicoltura, via G. Rossini 1, 95041 Caltagirone (CT), Italy.

Durum wheat grain samples (n = 327) harvested during 1998 and 1999 in eight different Italian agroclimatic areas and representative of the main Italian cultivars were analyzed. Image analysis of whole grains allowed five size and shape descriptors (length of minor and major axes, perimeter, area, and ellipsoidal volume) to be measured on 100 grains for each sample. By multiple regression analysis, shape measures more valid to explain semolina yield were identified. By combining these measures with test weight or 1,000-seed weight, equations useful to predict semolina yield were developed.