Bruno T. Ribeiro / UFLA
Marcela Vieira da Costa, from UFLA, analyzing leaves in the fieldBruno T. Ribeiro / UFLAAlready used to identify and quantify chemical elements in ores and soil, a portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) spectrometer can also be used to measure the concentration of nutrients in plant leaves. A team from the Federal University of Lavras (UFLA) in Minas Gerais, led by agronomist Bruno Ribeiro, tested the approach using fresh, intact leaves from eight crops (beans, castor beans, coffee, eucalyptus, guava, maize, mango, and soybeans). The concentrations of micro and macronutrients, calculated using machine learning, were very close to those recorded in dried, ground leaves using conventional laboratory methods. At a cost of around R$150,000, which is cheaper than the larger equipment used in labs, the pXRF device converts the characteristic energies of the X-rays emitted by certain elements of the sample into electrical signals that can be quantified (Chemosphere, October).
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