Pulse Brain · Growing Health Evidence Index
Peer-reviewed

Beyond Color: Phenomic and Physiological Tomato Harvest Maturity Assessment in an NFT Hydroponic Growing System

Um D, Koram C, Nethala P, Kasu PR, Tabassum S, Inam AKMS, Sangmen ED

Agronomy · 2025

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Summary

Current tomato harvesters rely primarily on external color as the sole indicator of ripeness. However, this approach often results in premature harvesting, leading to insufficient lycopene accumulation and a suboptimal nutritional content for human consumption. Such limitations are especially critical in controlled-environment agriculture (CEA) systems, where maximizing fruit quality and nutrient density is essential for both the yield and consumer health. To address that challenge, this study introduces a novel, multimodal harvest readiness framework tailored to nutrient film technology (NFT)-based smart farms. The proposed approach integrates plant-level stress diagnostics and fruit-level phenotyping using wearable biosensors, AI-assisted computer vision, and non-invasive physiological s

Source type
Peer-reviewed study
DOI
10.3390/agronomy15071524
Catalogue ID
BImvhaibco-xnrbbm
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