Real-time non-invasive monitoring of the nutritional status of crops would allow timely
applications of fertilizers to optimize for growth and yield at different times of the plant's life
cycle. Here, we used Raman spectroscopy to characterize Arabidopsis and two varieties of
leafy vegetable crops under nitrogen sufficient and deficient conditions. We showed that the
1046 cm–1 Raman peak serves as a specific signature of nitrogen status in planta, which …