An experiment was conducted to establish a mathematical model based on the linear measurement of the maximum width of the central leaflet to estimate the leaf area of determinate type of snap bean. The measurements were made using the non-destructive method in six plants and the destructive method in four plants on the 21, 30, 37, 44 and 51 days after emergence. The area of each leaflet was obtained by using an area meter LICOR LI-3000 model. The models, obtained by regression, were tested in destructive and non-destructive methods comparing the estimated and the measured leaf area. The model AF = 0.1026*L1,6871 (R²=0.98) was effective to estimate the leaf area (AF) of snap bean plants in non-destructive way showing that the maximum width of the central leaflet (L) estimates the real leaf area.
Phaseolus vulgaris L.; non-destructive method; linear measure
