Nondestructive Techniques for Fresh Produce Quality Analysis: An Overview

Quality and safety of fresh fruits and vegetables have prime importance in various stages of postharvest value chain. Visual examination and destructive procedures have been used to check the quality of fruits and vegetables for decades. Recent technological development has progressed in the many nondestructive techniques for fresh produce quality analysis. Nondestructive techniques are now important because they allow determining simultaneous chemical and physical characteristics of foods without destroying the substance. Nondestructive techniques become feasible to detect surface and interior defects related to fresh product during harvesting and handling operations. Recently, many studies on nondestructive measurements of fresh fruits and vegetables for quality assessment were reported. This chapter provides an overview of the different nondestructive techniques used for fresh produce quality analysis. The use of nondestructive techniques for assessing internal and external quality, such as computer vision, hyperspectral imaging, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray-computed tomography, acoustic techniques, electronic tongue, and electronic nose are discussed. Each technique is highlighted with a brief overview of research and its potential use in fresh produce industry.