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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
Moldy core of apples is undetectable until the fruit is cut or bitten into, it can therefore pose serious
problems to both producer and consumer. Removal of diseased fruits prior to storage would be most
desirable. The objective of this study was to evaluate the ability of VIS-NIR mini-spectrometers to detect
moldy core in apples, on line. An apparatus which is qualified for online NIRS (near infrared spectrometry)
measurements was developed based on off-the-shelf mini-spectrometers. ‘Top Red’ apples, were collected
from several orchards before and during the commercial harvest, and were stored at 0°C pending the tests.
The data were analyzed by chemometric procedures, specifically, by partial least squares regression (PLSR),
and were classified by means of canonical discriminant analysis. The canonical variables were represented
by the latent variables of the PLS models, which were based on the spectra. The accuracy of the classification
results was high when the moldy fraction threshold was set at 5%; in such a case the mold covers only the
seed carpals of the fruit, where it might remain without really damaging the fruit. Improvements should
aim to reduce errors in classifying low-level damage, and also in misclassifying some healthy fruits. The
rate of testing (1 s per fruit) is acceptable for quality control purposes, but should be accelerated for future
packing-line implementation.
Description
Proceedings of the International Conference “Environmentally friendly and safe
technologies for quality of fruit and vegetables”, held in Universidade do Algarve, Faro,
Portugal, on January 14-16, 2009. This Conference was a join activity with COST Action 924.
Keywords
Alternaria alternata Fruit Quality Near Infrared Spectroscopy