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CROP SEED VIABILITY
Rapid and consistent viability testing of tomato seeds
Viability testing is one of the most important and frequent quality control procedures. And seed viability can only decline - once a seed is dead, then it needs to be excluded. Time of storage, storage conditions, and seed handling/processing are all factors causing loss of seed viability. Selling samples with low viability causes rejects, and they are a hassle for everybody involved...
Traditional viability testing of seeds takes 10-14 days, and results are often quite variable. Spectral Analytix Inc. can provide test results with higher and more consistent accuracy, no handling/processing of seeds is necessary, and results are obtained in 48-72 hours.
Tomato Seeds
Proof of concept
A client provided five samples of tomato seeds - all with know percentages of viable seeds ranging from %. Optical data from the two seed samples with highest and lowest viabilities were used as "training data" to develop an algorithm that can separate viable and non-viable seeds. Afterwards, optical data were collected from all five seed samples, and it is seen that predicted and actual viabilities were very similar - even for the three samples not included in the training data.
We have identified unique spectral features associated with viable and non-viable seeds, and we can use those spectral features to develop high accurate and fast sorting and classification solutions. Customized viability solutions can also be developed for other crop seeds.