Deep-Learning-Based Classification of Bangladeshi Medicinal Plants Using Neural Ensemble Models

This research addresses the lack of publicly available datasets for Bangladeshi medicinal plants by presenting a comprehensive dataset comprising 5000 images of ten species collected under controlled conditions. To improve performance, several preprocessing techniques were employed, such as image selection, background removal, unsharp masking, contrast-limited adaptive histogram equalization, and morphological gradient. Then, we applied five state-of-the-art deep learning models to achieve benchmark performance on the dataset: VGG16, ResNet50, DenseNet201, InceptionV3, and Xception. Among these models, DenseNet201 demonstrated the highest accuracy of 85.28%. In addition to benchmarking the deep learning models, three novel neural network architectures were developed: dense-residual–dense (DRD), dense-residual–ConvLSTM-dense (DRCD), and inception-residual–ConvLSTM-dense (IRCD). The DRCD model achieved the highest accuracy of 97%, surpassing the benchmark performances of individual models. This highlights the effectiveness of the proposed architectures in capturing complex patterns and dependencies within the data. To further enhance classification accuracy, an ensemble approach was adopted, employing both hard ensemble and soft ensemble techniques. The hard ensemble achieved an accuracy of 98%, while the soft ensemble achieved the highest accuracy of 99%. These results demonstrate the effectiveness of ensembling techniques in boosting overall classification performance. The outcomes of this study have significant implications for the accurate identification and classification of Bangladeshi medicinal plants. This research provides valuable resources for traditional medicine, drug discovery, and biodiversity conservation efforts. The developed models and ensemble techniques can aid researchers, botanists, and practitioners in accurately identifying medicinal plant species, thereby facilitating the utilization of their therapeutic potential and contributing to the preservation of biodiversity.