Research Article

An investigation of copper chlorophyllin solution for low-cost optical devices calibration in chlorophyll measurement

¹ Laboratory of Precision Agriculture Geo-Informatics. Faculty of Agricultural Technology, Jember University, Jember 68121, East Java, Indonesia
² Department of Agricultural and Food Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur: Kharagpur, West Bengal, India

^* Corresponding author: bayu@unej.ac.id

Received: 6 July 2019
Accepted: 19 August 2019

Abstract

Chlorophylls and turbidity are related parameters deemed important in predicting water quality, especially in the freshwater fisheries sector. In other hand, chlorophyll contents in vegetation are often used as a measure for estimating plant health. To ensure the chlorophyll content, appropriate analysis techniques are needed, which include, yet not limited to, dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO), acetone extraction analysis, and measuring turbidity using expensive equipment. Measurements using these methods are still not reliable, especially for smallholders. In addition, calibration of a digital camera for these purposes requires several efforts of preparing a series of chemical analyses and the qualities of newly developed cameras have increased. Thus, calibration needs to be taken into account for improving the accuracy in estimating chlorophyll contents. This study posits fundamental findings germane to the potential use of chlorophyllin for calibrating the optimal instrument, like consumer-grade cameras. Sodium copper chlorophyllin is commonly used as food additive and ingredients, and medical treatments. However, we can gain another benefit of chlorophyllin, particularly for developing low-cost optical instruments for estimating chlorophyll content through hydro-color-based with promising accuracy.