Evaluation of biological contaminants in foods by hyperspectral imaging: A review

VNIR-NIR hyperspectral imaging fusion targeting intraoperative brain cancer detection

Currently, intraoperative guidance tools used for brain tumor resection assistance during surgery have several limitations. Hyperspectral (HS) imaging is arising as a novel imaging technique that could offer new capabilities to delineate brain tumor tissue in surgical-time. However, the HS acquisition systems have some limitations regarding spatial and spectral resolution depending on the spectral range to be captured. Image fusion techniques combine information from different sensors to obtain an HS cube with improved spatial and spectral resolution. This paper describes the contributions to HS image fusion using two push-broom HS cameras, covering the visual and near-infrared (VNIR) [400–1000 nm] and near-infrared (NIR) [900–1700 nm] spectral ranges, which are integrated into an intraoperative HS acquisition system developed to delineate brain tumor tissue during neurosurgical procedures. Both HS images were registered using intensity-based and feature-based techniques with different geometric transformations to perform the HS image fusion, obtaining an HS cube with wide spectral range [435–1638 nm]. Four HS datasets were captured to verify the image registration and the fusion process. Moreover, segmentation and classification methods were evaluated to compare the performance results between the use of the VNIR and NIR data, independently, with respect to the fused data. The results reveal that the proposed methodology for fusing VNIR–NIR data improves the classification results up to 21% of accuracy with respect to the use of each data modality independently, depending on the targeted classification problem.

High End Quality Measuring in Mango Drying through Multi-Spectral Imaging Systems

In modern fruit processing technology, non-destructive quality measuring techniques are sought for determining and controlling changes in the optical, structural, and chemical properties of the products. In this context, changes inside the product can be measured during processing. Especially for industrial use, fast, precise, but robust methods are particularly important to obtain high-quality products. In this work, a newly developed multi-spectral imaging system was implemented and adapted for drying processes. Further it was investigated if the system could be used to link changes in the surface spectral reflectance during mango drying with changes in moisture content and contents of chemical components. This was achieved by recovering the spectral reflectance from multi-spectral image data and comparing the spectral changes with changes of the total soluble solids (TSS), pH-value and the relative moisture content xwb of the products. In a first step, the camera was modified to be used in drying, then the changes in the spectra and quality criteria during mango drying were measured. For this, mango slices were dried at air temperatures of 40–80 °C and relative air humidities of 5%–30%. Samples were analyzed and pictures were taken with the multi-spectral imaging system. The quality criteria were then predicted from spectral data. It could be shown that the newly developed multi-spectral imaging system can be used for quality control in fruit drying. There are strong indications as well, that it can be employed for the prediction of chemical quality criteria of mangoes during drying. This way, quality changes can be monitored inline during the process using only one single measuring device.

Saccharomycodes ludwigii, Control and Potential Uses in Winemaking Processes

Non-Saccharomyces yeasts are becoming important because most of them are considered as spoilage species in winemaking processes, among them the species Saccharomycodes ludwigii. This species is frequently isolated at the end of the fermentation process and/or during storage of the wine, i.e., it can to grow in the presence of high levels of ethanol. Besides, this species is adaptable to unfavorable conditions such as high concentrations of SO2 and is characterized by its capacity to produce high amounts of undesirable metabolites as acetoin, ethyl acetate or acetic acid. To the present, physical (gamma irradiation and continuous pulsed electric fields), chemical (inhibitory compounds such as chitosan and dimethyl dicarbonate) and biological (antagonistic biocontrol by killer yeasts) treatments have been developed in order to control the growth of this spoilage yeast in wines and other fruit derivatives. Therefore, this review is focused on the most relevant studies conducted to control contamination by S. ludwigii. Moreover, potential applications of S. ludwigii in alternative winemaking techniques, for example for ageing-on-lees and stabilization of red wines, and improvement of aromatic profile are also examined.