Identification tools as part of Feedsafety research: the case of ragwort

Abstract

Ragwort (Senecio jacobaea) and related species of the genus Senecio are the main source of pyrrolizidine alkaloids. These plants grow in road verges, meadows and production fields and they show up in parties of roughage: grass and alfalfa. Monitoring can be carried out during the field production and harvesting stages. The final objective is to reject parties with a too high contamination level. Identification tools can support the decision to accept or refuse materials for the food production chain. A ragwort model has been developed for the mobile application Determinator. This identification model includes the relevant objects (species of the genus Senecio), and a range of so called confusing objects in order to minimise the chance of false positive identifications