Past, Present and Future near Infrared Spectroscopy Applications for Fruit and Vegetables

Origin of non-destructive quality evaluation of fruits and vegetables I n the period from the 1960s to the early 1970s, very many studies on nondestructive testing techniques using visible light were carried out. The first objective was to measure the surface colour and to detect surface defects such as scabs, breaks, bruises etc., while the second was to check the internal quality of fruit and vegetables. For example, it is necessary to visually inspect the interior of apples for evidence of water core, a disease which causes internal cellular breakdown. Apples with water core disease tend to turn brown during storage. As an instrument for internal quality detection, the Internal Quality Analyzer (IQA) was developed by the USDA team led by Karl Norris in the early 1970s; this instrument allows the researcher to investigate samples one at a time. However, internal chemical compositions could not be measured until near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy was applied.