International Journal of Nematology and Entomology

International Journal of Nematology and Entomology ISSN 9321-5320 Vol. 4 (4), pp. 001-008, April, 2018. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Technique on simulation for real time oil palm fruits maturity prediction

Mohd. Hudzari Razali¹*, Wan Ishak Wan Ismail^1,2, Abd. Rahman Ramli¹, Md. Nasir Sulaiman³ and Mohd. Haniff B. Harun⁴

¹Intelligent System and Robotics Laboratory, Institute of Advanced Technology, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

²Department of Biological and Agriculture Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

³Department of Computer Science and Information Technology, Faculty of Science Computer and Information Technology, 43400 Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

⁴Crop Physiology, Biological Research Division, Malaysian Palm Oil Board, No. 6, Persiaran Institusi, Bandar Baru Bangi, 43000 Kajang, Selangor, Malaysia.

Accepted 23 February, 2017

Abstract

This paper is to introduce the new method of procedure in studying the relationship of the mesocarp oil content with the colour skin of oil palm fruit with respect to its maturity. The procedure started after collecting the fruitlets sample from fresh fruit bunches (FFB) during unripe, until overripe stage. The variety of oil palm is PISIFERA (Dura X Tenera). The images on each three age categories of FFB were captured at monitoring area with setting image parameter. NIKON coolpix4500 digital camera with tele converter zooming device was used to capture the image. Subsequently, after the end of the capturing session, the fruitlets were pulled from FFB and sent to analyse for oil mesocarp content. The Soxhlet Extractor Soxhlet apparatus is used to determine the oil content of the fruit based on the experiment of standard bunch analysis procedure. The image will be analysed for optical properties of colour, using developed analysis Graphical User Interface (GUI). Using regression analysis of polynomial 2^nd order method, it shows that the optical property of oil palm fruit was significant in determining the oil mesocarp fruit with respect to its degree of maturity.

Key words: Day estimation for harvesting, hue digital value, maturity prediction, mesocarp oil content, oil palm optical properties.