PONE-D-21-36255Volume estimation models for tropical fruitPLOS ONE

Dear Dr. Mokria,

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Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer #1: Dear,

This study provided the first avocado cultivar-specific and mixed-cultivar generalized allometric equations to estimate avocado fruit volume non-destructively.

Major comments:

1. The title of the article does not provide a clear picture of the subject under consideration. The title implies that a general allometric model for all tropical crops is provided, but this model was only used for non-destructive measurement of avocado fruit volume. As a result, it is suggested that the article be given a more accurate title.

2. Avocado is a highly variable species and three botanical subspecies or ecological races of P. americana Mill. were recognized: Mexican (M) (var. drymifolia), Guatemalan (G) (var. guatemalensis), and West Indian (WI) (Antillean) (var. americana). Cultivars derived from Guatemalan and Mexican races and their hybrids are grown primarily in subtropical climates and have physiological adaptations to cooler temperatures, as opposed to cultivars derived from West Indian race or WI­hybrids, which are adapted to tropical climates.

Regarding this horticultural fact, there must be consistency throughout the manuscript's text as well as title. Now, none of the cultivars studied in this study are of tropical origin.

Using the words 'tropical' in the title and line 17 and 'subtropical' in line 40 made inconsistencies that must be addressed.

3. According to line 117: “model performance was checked using various goodness-of-fit statistics, such as the Coefficient of Determination (R2), Standard Error of Estimate (SEE), Index of Agreement (D), Mean Absolute Bias (MAB), Percent Bias (PBIAS), Root Mean Square Error (RMSE), Prediction Residuals Sum of Squares (PRESS), Reduction of error (RE), and Coefficient efficiency (CE)”.

As is obvious, the regression was run separately for the actual fruit volume and each of the independent variables, such as fruit length, fruit weight, and fruit diameter. In other words, a single factor regression has been investigated (Length with volume, diameter with volume and weight with volume). As you are aware, mathematical relationships such as regression between the sum of length and diameter with volume, regression between the multiplication of length and diameter by volume, or regression between the square of length + diameter by volume are preferable. It is strongly advised to provide better estimation by providing more mathematical relationships between fruit length and diameter and regressing them with fruit volume so that a better choice between them can be made.

4. According to section 2.3: “Cultivar-specific and mixed-cultivar generalized avocado fruit volume (FV) estimation models were developed using linear and non-linear regression equations based on either fruit diameter, fruit length alone or both fruit length and diameter at the same time as ndependent variables”.

Please include both linear and non-linear regression equations in the table, as well as the Goodness of Fit for the linear equation. If a non-linear equation is used, please explain it using terms such as logarithm, polynomial, and so on. Non-linear regression can provide more accurate predictions and is especially valuable for biological data. The value and strength of the proposed model are increased by including these items.

5. According to line 128: “To validate the best fitting equation for volume estimation, model cross-validation was conducted following a split-sample approach in which 45 measured fruit sample were partitioned into two sets, 33 for ‘‘training’’ (i. e., to develop the equations) and the remaining 12 fruit samples for ‘‘testing’’ the equations”.

Twelve fruits from each cultivar were used for testing (validation), which appears insufficient and represents a small statistical population. Moreover, validation requires sampling from other gardens or areas in the same climate. In other words, performing large-scale sampling will result in strong validation with a high correlation coefficient.

6. After obtaining the model and estimating the data, regression validation should be performed to determine whether a suitable correlation coefficient exists. Please include graphs of validation-related correlations.

Minor comments:

1. Line 17: Mill -> Mill (non-italicized)

2. Line 17: remove "genus Persea" at the end.

3. Line 19: The physical characteristic -> The physical characteristics

4. Line 23: "five wildly distributed avocado verities" -> Q: five varieties or cultivars? As mentioned in the materials and methods section, they are 5 avocado cultivars.

5. Line 23: "five wildly distributed avocado verities" -> … varieties

6. Line 24: found between Fruit diameter -> fruit

7. Line 58: small scall avocado farming -> scale

8. Line 59: information of fruit size are critical factors -> is critical

9. Line 73: five avocado verities -> … varieties (Q: five varieties or cultivars?)

10. Line 77: Materials and methods -> Materials and Methods

11. Line 78: 2.1 -> 2.1.

12. Line 101: classified in to three size -> into

13. Line 130: i. e. -> i.e.

14. Line 139: Fruit volume -> fruit volume

15. Line 145: Result and discussion -> Results and Discussion

16. Line 234: (VM2 and VM2) -> ?

17. Line 312: reference # 18: ?

Other comments:

1. The main body and reference section must be adjusted in accordance with the author's guidelines.

2. The manuscript must be significantly improved and rewritten as a result of comments and suggestions. All of the issues raised should be addressed. The manuscript must then be reassessed for quality and suitability for publication in PLOS ONE.

Reviewer #2: 

Manuscript presents allometric models to non-destructively predict avocado fruit volume under both cultivar-specific and mixed-cultivar production systems. Introduction, Materials and Methods, and Results and Discussion sections are adequately written and justify the claims made in the manuscript. Data collection method, and statistical tests sufficiently verify the models. I suggest to maturity level of fruit at the time of harvest and add a colored photograph showing morphological differences among avocado fruits from studied cultivars. Since, all models have some limitations, it would be appropriate to add limitations for these models, too. Some English language improvements are suggested in the reviewed version of the manuscript.

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Submitted filename: PONE-D-21-36255_reviewer.pdf

PONE-D-21-36255R1Volume estimation models for avocado fruitPLOS ONE

Dear Dr. Mokria,

Thank you for submitting your manuscript to PLOS ONE. After careful consideration, we feel that it has merit but does not fully meet PLOS ONE’s publication criteria as it currently stands. Therefore, we invite you to submit a revised version of the manuscript that addresses the points raised during the review process.

Please submit your revised manuscript by Feb 24 2022 11:59PM. If you will need more time than this to complete your revisions, please reply to this message or contact the journal office at plosone@plos.org. When you're ready to submit your revision, log on to https://www.editorialmanager.com/pone/ and select the 'Submissions Needing Revision' folder to locate your manuscript file.

Please include the following items when submitting your revised manuscript:

• A rebuttal letter that responds to each point raised by the academic editor and reviewer(s). You should upload this letter as a separate file labeled 'Response to Reviewers'.
• A marked-up copy of your manuscript that highlights changes made to the original version. You should upload this as a separate file labeled 'Revised Manuscript with Track Changes'.
• An unmarked version of your revised paper without tracked changes. You should upload this as a separate file labeled 'Manuscript'.

If you would like to make changes to your financial disclosure, please include your updated statement in your cover letter. Guidelines for resubmitting your figure files are available below the reviewer comments at the end of this letter.

If applicable, we recommend that you deposit your laboratory protocols in protocols.io to enhance the reproducibility of your results. Protocols.io assigns your protocol its own identifier (DOI) so that it can be cited independently in the future. For instructions see: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/s/submission-guidelines#loc-laboratory-protocols. Additionally, PLOS ONE offers an option for publishing peer-reviewed Lab Protocol articles, which describe protocols hosted on protocols.io. Read more information on sharing protocols at https://plos.org/protocols?utm_medium=editorial-email&utm_source=authorletters&utm_campaign=protocols.

We look forward to receiving your revised manuscript.

Kind regards,

Sajid Ali

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

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Please review your reference list to ensure that it is complete and correct. If you have cited papers that have been retracted, please include the rationale for doing so in the manuscript text, or remove these references and replace them with relevant current references. Any changes to the reference list should be mentioned in the rebuttal letter that accompanies your revised manuscript. If you need to cite a retracted article, indicate the article’s retracted status in the References list and also include a citation and full reference for the retraction notice.

Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer #1: 

Thank you for your efforts in revising the manuscript in an appropriate manner. I believe that the revised manuscript has significant improvements. In other words, you answered all of the questions and made all of the necessary changes. In addition, the revised manuscript now includes significant and acceptable English language improvements, as well as a more in-depth discussion with adequate presentation and interpretation for each of the research findings.

Note that, regarding your responses #3 and #4 to reviewer #1, you must state your arguments in the main text of the manuscript as declarative sentences in order to inform readers. As a result, readers may be able to better understand the details of the reports and findings.

Reviewer #2: 

Manuscript has been thoroughly reviewed. After review, the manuscript is in much better shape. Authors have properly incorporated or justified all suggested improvements.

Academic Editor Comments

There are two Hass cultivars in the figure 2 whereas in tables  the names are not same. Please be uniform in the whole manuscript about the names of the avocado cultivars. In addition, it would be better if the authors provide race information for the each cultivar. For your convenience, please refer to this publication i.e. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scienta.2019.109008

[NOTE: If reviewer comments were submitted as an attachment file, they will be attached to this email and accessible via the submission site. Please log into your account, locate the manuscript record, and check for the action link "View Attachments". If this link does not appear, there are no attachment files.]

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Volume estimation models for avocado fruit

PONE-D-21-36255R2

Dear Dr. Mokria,

We’re pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been judged scientifically suitable for publication and will be formally accepted for publication once it meets all outstanding technical requirements.

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Kind regards,

Sajid Ali

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Additional Editor Comments (optional):

Reviewers' comments: