Phenotyping of Low-Temperature Stressed Pepper Seedlings Using Infrared Thermography

Purpose: This study was performed to evaluate the feasibility of using an infrared thermography technique for phenotype analysis of pepper seedlings exposed to a low-temperature environment. Methods: We employed an active thermography technique to evaluate the thermal response of pepper seedlings exposed to low-temperature stress. The temperatures of pepper leaves grown in low-temperature conditions ($5^{\circ}C$, relative humidity [RH] 50%) for four periods (6, 12, 24, and 48 h) were measured in the experimental setting ($23^{\circ}C$, RH 70%) as soon as pepper seedling samples were taken out from the low-temperature environment. We also assessed the visible images of pepper seedling samples that were exposed to low-temperature stress to estimate appearance changes. Results: The greatest appearance change was observed for the low-temperature stressed pepper seedlings that were exposed for 12 h, and the temperature from these pepper seedling leaves was the highest among all samples. In addition, the thermal image of low-temperature stressed pepper seedlings for 6 h exhibited the lowest temperature. Conclusions: We demonstrated that the leaf withering owing to the water deficiency that occurred under low-temperature conditions could induce an increase in temperature in plant leaves using the infrared thermography technique. These results suggested that the time-resolved and averaged thermal signals or temperatures of plants could be significantly associated with the physiological or biochemical characteristics of plants exposed to low-temperature stress.