Influences of Detection Position and Double Detection Regions on Determining Soluble Solids Content (SSC) for Apples Using On-line Visible/Near-Infrared (Vis/NIR) Spectroscopy

Quantitative impact damage of apple based on hyperspectral imaging combined with mechanical parameters and size correction

In order to solve the problem of decreasing the accuracy of quantitative prediction of damage of fruits resulting in the size difference of fruits, the spectral correction method based on the size difference of fruits was adopted. To provide richer theoretical knowledge for the quality detection of fruits and the design of damage reduction programs in reality. First, the undamaged spectra of the group of apples with better performance of the model were selected as the reference spectra by analyzing and comparing the modeling results of the prediction models of mechanical parameters with the single fruit diameter groups. The spectral correction coefficient was calculated with the formulas, and the damage spectra of three groups of apples were size-corrected by this coefficient to build the mechanical parameter models. Finally, the corrected spectra were screened for characteristic wavelengths by competitive adaptive reweighting and uninformative variable elimination algorithms. The results of study showed that the correlation coefficients of the prediction set of the models were improved by 2.1%-13% and the root mean square errors were reduced by 16%-51% with the spectrally corrected models compared with the precorrection models. Therefore, the size correction method can be used to eliminate the effect of size difference on the mechanical parameter models to improve the applicability of the quantitative damage prediction models, and it can provide the theoretical guidance to design the loss-reducing protective measures and the agricultural mechanized operation process.

Intelligent System/Equipment for Quality Deterioration Detection of Fresh Food: Recent Advances and Application

The quality of fresh foods tends to deteriorate rapidly during harvesting, storage, and transportation. Intelligent detection equipment is designed to monitor and ensure product quality in the supply chain, measure appropriate food quality parameters in real time, and thus minimize quality degradation and potential financial losses. Through various available tracking devices, consumers can obtain actionable information about fresh food products. This paper reviews the recent progress in intelligent detection equipment for sensing the quality deterioration of fresh foods, including computer vision equipment, electronic nose, smart colorimetric films, hyperspectral imaging (HSI), near-infrared spectroscopy (NIR), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), ultrasonic non-destructive testing, and intelligent tracing equipment. These devices offer the advantages of high speed, non-destructive operation, precision, and high sensitivity.

Analyzing the Quality Parameters of Apples by Spectroscopy from Vis/NIR to NIR Region: A Comprehensive Review

Spectroscopic methods deliver a valuable non-destructive analytical tool that provides simultaneous qualitative and quantitative characterization of various samples. Apples belong to the world's most consumed crops and with the current challenges of climate change and human impacts on the environment, maintaining high-quality apple production has become critical. This review comprehensively analyzes the application of spectroscopy in near-infrared (NIR) and visible (Vis) regions, which not only show particular potential in evaluating the quality parameters of apples but also in optimizing their production and supply routines. This includes the assessment of the external and internal characteristics such as color, size, shape, surface defects, soluble solids content (SSC), total titratable acidity (TA), firmness, starch pattern index (SPI), total dry matter concentration (DM), and nutritional value. The review also summarizes various techniques and approaches used in Vis/NIR studies of apples, such as authenticity, origin, identification, adulteration, and quality control. Optical sensors and associated methods offer a wide suite of solutions readily addressing the main needs of the industry in practical routines as well, e.g., efficient sorting and grading of apples based on sweetness and other quality parameters, facilitating quality control throughout the production and supply chain. This review also evaluates ongoing development trends in the application of handheld and portable instruments operating in the Vis/NIR and NIR spectral regions for apple quality control. The use of these technologies can enhance apple crop quality, maintain competitiveness, and meet the demands of consumers, making them a crucial topic in the apple industry. The focal point of this review is placed on the literature published in the last five years, with the exceptions of seminal works that have played a critical role in shaping the field or representative studies that highlight the progress made in specific areas.

Hyperspectral Imaging with Machine Learning Approaches for Assessing Soluble Solids Content of Tribute Citru

Tribute Citru is a natural citrus hybrid with plenty of vitamins and nutrients. Fruits' soluble solids content (SSC) is a critical quality index. This study used hyperspectral imaging at two spectral ranges (400-1000 nm and 900-1700 nm) to determine SSC in Tribute Citru. Partial least squares regression (PLSR) and support vector regression (SVR) models were established in order to determine SSC using the spectral information of the calyx and blossom ends. The average spectra of both ends as well as their fusion was studied. The successive projections algorithm (SPA) and the correlation coefficient analysis (CCA) were used to examine the differences in characteristic wavelengths between the two ends. Most models achieved performances with the correlation coefficient of the training, validation, and testing sets over 0.6. Results showed that differences in the performances among the models using the one-sided and two-sided spectral information. No particular regulation could be found for the differences in model performances and characteristic wavelengths. The results illustrated that the sampling side was an influencing factor but not the determinant factor for SSC determination. These results would help with the development of real-world applications for citrus quality inspection without concerning the sampling sides and the spectral ranges.

An Accuracy Improvement Method Based on Multi-Source Information Fusion and Deep Learning for TSSC and Water Content Nondestructive Detection in “Luogang” Orange

The objective of this study was to find an efficient method for measuring the total soluble solid content (TSSC) and water content of “Luogang” orange. Quick, accurate, and nondestructive detection tools (VIS/NIR spectroscopy, NIR spectroscopy, machine vision, and electronic nose), four data processing methods (Savitzky–Golay (SG), genetic algorithm (GA), multi-source information fusion (MIF), convolutional neural network (CNN) as the deep learning method, and a partial least squares regression (PLSR) modeling method) were compared and investigated. The results showed that the optimal TSSC detection method was based on VIS/NIR and machine vision data fusion and processing and modeling by SG + GA + CNN + PLSR. The R2 and RMSE of the TSSC detection results were 0.8580 and 0.4276, respectively. The optimal water content detection result was based on VIS/NIR data and processing and modeling by SG + GA + CNN + PLSR. The R2 and RMSE of the water content detection results were 0.7013 and 0.0063, respectively. This optimized method largely improved the internal quality detection accuracy of “Luogang” orange when compared to the data from a single detection tool with traditional data processing method, and provides a reference for the accuracy improvement of internal quality detection of other fruits.

Nondestructive monitoring storage quality of apples at different temperatures by near-infrared transmittance spectroscopy

Apple is the most widely planted fruit in the world and is popular in consumers because of its rich nutritional value. In this study, the portable near-infrared (NIR) transmittance spectroscopy coupled with temperature compensation and chemometric algorithms was applied to detect the storage quality of apples. The postharvest quality of apples including soluble solids content (SSC), vitamin C (VC), titratable acid (TA), and firmness was evaluated, and the portable spectrometer was used to obtain near-infrared transmittance spectra of apples in the wavelength range of 590-1,200 nm. Mixed temperature compensation method (MTC) was used to reduce the influence of temperature on the models and to improve the adaptability of the models. Then, variable selection methods, such as uninformative variable elimination (UVE), competitive adaptive reweighted sampling (CARS), and successive projections algorithm (SPA), were developed to improve the performance of the models by determining characteristic variables and reducing redundancy. Comparing the full spectral models with the models established on variables selected by different variable selection methods, the CARS combined with partial least squares (PLS) showed the best performance with prediction correlation coefficient (R p) and residual predictive deviation (RPD) values of 0.9236, 2.604 for SSC; 0.8684, 2.002 for TA; 0.8922, 2.087 for VC; and 0.8207, 1.992 for firmness, respectively. Results showed that NIR transmittance spectroscopy was feasible to detect postharvest quality of apples during storage.