Plant Acoustics for Evaluating Vase Life in Chrysanthemums: A Novel and Noninvasive Method

Abstract

ABSTRACT Vase life is a key determinant of cut flower quality and market value. Conventional vase life assessment relies on visual inspection and physiological monitoring over several days to weeks, making it labor‐ and time‐intensive. This study introduces a rapid and noninvasive approach using plant acoustics to assess postharvest vase‐life‐related variation in cut chrysanthemum flowers. Six chrysanthemum cultivars were grown under two supplemental lighting treatments (Hybrid and LED) and two planting densities (54 and 74 plants m −2 ). Acoustic monitoring was compared with optical microscopy for the assessment of xylem vessel diameter, while conventional vase‐life testing was performed in parallel. Optical microscopy validated the acoustic measurements, with both methods consistently identifying vessel radii around 10 μm. The acoustic radius (), derived from pulse settling time measurements, showed cultivar‐ and planting‐density‐specific variation. Linear mixed‐effects modelling demonstrated that the relationship between acoustic radius and vase life differed significantly among cultivars, indicating that a universal relationship across cultivars is not supported. These findings show that acoustic monitoring provides a meaningful noninvasive proxy for vase‐life‐associated stem traits and may serve as a useful cultivar‐calibrated tool for evaluating postharvest longevity in cut chrysanthemums.

Plant phenotyping relevance

植物の茎の道管径に基づく音響的な非破壊測定法を開発し、光学顕微鏡および花持ち試験で検証しているため、表現型取得法が研究の中心です。

Code and data availability

The paper's acoustic/optical phenotyping measurements and analysis are not publicly deposited; the Data Availability Statement states the supporting data are available only on request from the corresponding author. No public code, datasets, images, or model checkpoints with authors' URLs are provided in the supplied.

No evidence-backed public reproduction asset is currently recorded.