Microbial evaluation of raw and processed food products by Visible/Infrared, Raman and Fluorescence spectroscopy

Abstract Background Microbial evaluation plays a very important role in food quality evaluation. By providing spectral information relevant to microbial attributes, spectroscopy technology has been introduced and applied for microbial quality evaluation of food products in a rapid and non-destructive way. By mining different range spectral data with appropriate chemometrics, some important microbial quality indicators could be potentially evaluated and quantified. Scope and approach In this review, recent progresses and applications of visible/infrared (Vis/IR), Raman and Fluorescence spectroscopy as efficient and promising tools in replacing traditional time-consuming, tedious, and destructive technologies for detecting spoilage microorganisms in various raw and processed food products are described. The challenges and future researches of these spectroscopy techniques are also suggested. Key findings and conclusions Although spectroscopy technology shows its prosing and potential in evaluating various microbial parameters, some challenges in terms of spectra pre-processing, model calibration and instrument development are still needed to be faced. Much more works are still required to improve the stability and suitability of spectroscopy before implementation in food industry.