Abstract

The leaf area (LA) is a valuable measure to plant physiological studies; therefore, simple models are necessary to its determination, which may be used in many experimental comparisons. In view of the lack of studies about the estimative of basil leaf area, it becomes the objective of this study to propose models that use non-destructive measures of length (L) and/or width (W) of the leaves, to estimate the leaf area of the basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) grown at field conditions. The measures of leaf area, length and width of the leaves were performed with 600 leaves from digital pictures, including leaves with leaf area from 0.47 to 25.42 cm². The validation of the models was done through the adjusted determination coefficient ( ), the linear correlation coefficient, and the indexes of concordance of Willmott (d) and of performance of Camargo-Sentelhas (c). The models that presented normality and homocedasticity were evaluated through the Bland-Altman plot. The model , that used the ellipse area (CL (π/4)), with  = 0.9943, proved to be the most adequate model to the basil leaf area estimative, with high precision and accuracy, random pattern of distribution of residuals and easy mensuration.

Key words: Ocimum basilicum L., linear dimensions, biometry, Bland-Altman.