{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,12]],"date-time":"2026-06-12T19:33:35Z","timestamp":1781292815885,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":42,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,3,1]],"date-time":"2024-03-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1709251200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"European Union Next-GenerationEU","award":["CN00000022"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["CN00000022"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Sensors"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The safeguarding of plant health is vital for optimizing crop growth practices, especially in the face of the biggest challenges of our generation, namely the environmental crisis and the dramatic changes in the climate. Among the many innovative tools developed to address these issues, wearable sensors have recently been proposed for monitoring plant growth and microclimates in a sustainable manner. These systems are composed of flexible matrices with embedded sensing elements, showing promise in revolutionizing plant monitoring without being intrusive. Despite their potential benefits, concerns arise regarding the effects of the long-term coexistence of these devices with the plant surface. Surprisingly, a systematic analysis of their influence on plant physiology is lacking. This study aims to investigate the effect of the color and geometric features of flexible matrices on two key plant physiological functions: photosynthesis and transpiration. Our findings indicate that the negative effects associated with colored substrates, as identified in recent research, can be minimized by holing the matrix surface with a percentage of voids of 15.7%. This approach mitigates interference with light absorption and reduces water loss to a negligible extent, making our work one of the first pioneering efforts in understanding the intricate relationship between plant wearables\u2019 features and plant health.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/s24051611","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,3,1]],"date-time":"2024-03-01T03:31:23Z","timestamp":1709263883000},"page":"1611","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":6,"title":["Flexible Matrices for the Encapsulation of Plant Wearable Sensors: Influence of Geometric and Color Features on Photosynthesis and Transpiration"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"24","author":[{"given":"Daniela","family":"Lo Presti","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Unit of Measurements and Biomedical Instrumentation, Department of Engineering, Universit\u00e0 Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, Vial Alvaro del Portillo 21, 00128 Roma, Italy"},{"name":"Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Campus Bio-Medico, Via Alvaro del Portillo 200, 00128 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0139-0755","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sara","family":"Cimini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Unit of Food and Nutrition Science, Department of Science and Technology for Sustainable Development and One Health, Universit\u00e0 Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, Via Alvaro del Portillo 21, 00128 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3575-6038","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Francesca","family":"De Tommasi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Unit of Measurements and Biomedical Instrumentation, Department of Engineering, Universit\u00e0 Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, Vial Alvaro del Portillo 21, 00128 Roma, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3090-5623","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Carlo","family":"Massaroni","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Unit of Measurements and Biomedical Instrumentation, Department of Engineering, Universit\u00e0 Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, Vial Alvaro del Portillo 21, 00128 Roma, Italy"},{"name":"Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Campus Bio-Medico, Via Alvaro del Portillo 200, 00128 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8274-7452","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Stefano","family":"Cinti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The Nano(bio)sensors Lab, Department of Pharmacy, University of Naples Federico II, Via Domenico Montesano 49, 80131 Naples, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5938-7113","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Laura","family":"De Gara","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Unit of Food and Nutrition Science, Department of Science and Technology for Sustainable Development and One Health, Universit\u00e0 Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, Via Alvaro del Portillo 21, 00128 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9696-1265","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Emiliano","family":"Schena","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Unit of Measurements and Biomedical Instrumentation, Department of Engineering, Universit\u00e0 Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, Vial Alvaro del Portillo 21, 00128 Roma, Italy"},{"name":"Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Campus Bio-Medico, Via Alvaro del Portillo 200, 00128 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,3,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"C55","DOI":"10.1038\/35011545","article-title":"Feeding the World in the Twenty-First Century","volume":"402","author":"Conway","year":"1999","journal-title":"Nature"},{"key":"ref_2","unstructured":"United Nations Department of Economics and Social Affairs (2019). 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