Utilizing Image Processing Techniques to Develop a Novel Scoring System for Corn Ear Shape

Shape is one of the features that can attract sweet corn consumers. Moreover, the proper shape allows for more efficient processing in the industry. According to the information we have, there is currently no systematic approach for corn ear shape scoring. For this reason, we developed a new corn ear shape scoring system by utilizing image processing techniques. We compared the results of our proposed scoring with the results of a visual inspection by corn experts. The results showed that our scoring system was able to consistently group corn images by shape, with less variation within each group. As a result, our proposed scoring system can be used to establish ear shape standards and phenotyping in corn breeding programs.