Determination of Specific Parameters for Early Detection of Botrytis cinerea in Lettuce

In horticulture, the demand for efficient farming processes and food industries increases rapidly. Plant diseases cause severe crop production and economic losses. Therefore, early detection and identification of the diseases in plants are critical. This study aimed to determine the specific parameters for early detection of Botrytis cinerea in lettuce. The lettuce “Little Gem” was inoculated with B. cinerea isolate spore suspension and disc to evaluate the plant response to inner and outer infection, respectively. The non-destructive measurements of leaf spectral reflectance indices and biochemical compounds (phenols, proteins, DPPH, FRAP, chlorophyll, and carotenoids) were used to evaluate the plant physiological response to inoculation with B. cinerea after 12, 18, 36, 60, and 84 h. Our data showed that lettuce responded differently to inner and outer inoculation with B. cinerea. Therefore, the findings of this study allow for the inoculation method to be chosen to determine the early plant response to infection with B. cinerea according to specific leaf spectral reflectance indexes and phytochemicals in further research.