Analysing symptoms ofFusariumear rot on maize (Zea maysL.) using anex situhyperspectral examination method

Kernel samples of two maize hybrids (46308 and 463017) with different levels of resistance to Fusarium ear rot were collected from artificially and naturally infected plants. The spectral characteristics of the samples were analysed with an ASD Fieldspec 3 MAX spectroradiometer in the wavelength range of 350 to 2500 nm using an ex situ method. The different extents of artificial and natural Fusarium infection on the maize kernels resulted in spectral differences detectable with a spectroradiometer. The data showed that for both genotypes the level of Fusarium infection generated by artificial inoculation was significantly higher than that caused by natural infection over a wavelength range of 2030 to 2080 nm. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) on the data set for this range revealed that the first component explained 77.0% of the variability for hybrid 46308 and 97.0% for hybrid 46317.