Three red cabbage variety comparisons and their leaf area estimation from linear measurements

Cabbage is one of the most important and widely grown vegetables in the world. It’s a staple in many people’s diets. However, many red varieties are gaining popularity as part of various pre-packaged salad mixes. The red cabbages used in this study including: Red Dynasty, Red Rookie and Schwarzkopf 2 was similar in measured parameters and in spite of different producer company it’s seem that they have similar parents. Estimation of individual leaf areas was another goal of this research. Accurate and nondestructive methods to determine individual leaf areas of plants are a useful tool in physiological and agronomic research. Determining the individual leaf area (LA) of red cabbage involves measurements of leaf parameters such as length (L) and width (W), or some combinations of these parameters. This study was carried out during 2008 (on three red cabbages) under open field conditions to test whether an equation could be developed to estimate leaf area of red cabbage. Regression analysis of LA vs. L and W revealed several equations that could be used for estimating the area of individual red cabbage leaves. A linear equation having W as the independent variable provided the most accurate estimate of LA. The linear equation (LA = a + bW2) exhibited a high accuracy and precision in estimating LA.