Nondestructive leaf area and fresh weight estimation for Taraxacum kok-saghyz Rodin and their sampling number

Kok-saghyz ( Taraxacum kok-saghyz Rodin), Russian dandelion, is a perennial plant widely recognized as one of the most promising sources of natural rubber. The works to utilize natural rubber are underway in the United States, China and Western Europe (Germany, Spain, Czech Republic and the Netherlands). The aim of this study was to determine nondestructive models for estimating leaf area and fresh weight of Russian dandelion plants. Regression analyses were performed between leaf area, fresh weight, leaf length, and leaf width in two hundred and fifty leaf samples collected during different growth stages of Russian dandelion plants. Data from another fifty leaves were used for validating the proposed models. Regression analyses were performed among ten data groups with different numbers of data randomly selected from the total three hundred leaves data set to determine the smallest sampling number for applying the final models correctly. The model for estimating leaf area (LA) is: LA = 6226...