A novel noninvasive and cost-effective handheld detector on soluble solids content of fruits

Publication date: Available online 26 March 2019Source: Journal of Food EngineeringAuthor(s): Wenchuan Guo, Weiqiang Li, Biao Yang, ZhuoZhuo Zhu, Dayang Liu, Xinhua ZhuAbstractSoluble solids content (SSC) is an important parameter for determining sweetness, maturity, and price of fruits. A fast, noninvasive, and cost-effective portable SSC detector is appreciated by fruit planters, processers, sellers, and consumers. The study developed a handheld non-destructive SSC detector which mainly consisted of a visible/near-infrared (Vis/NIR) micro-spectrometer over the wavelength of 650–1100 nm, a Raspberry Pi board, a micro-halogen lamp, a self-made “Y” shape optical fiber probe (including an incident optical fiber and a reflection optical fiber), a lithium battery, and a display. The application software developed by python language was designed to collect diffuse reflection spectra, to preprocess spectra by using Savitzky–Golay smoothing method, and to calculate the SSC of fruits based on smoothed spectra and established partial least square regression models. Kiwifruits, nectarines, and apricots, collected from several orchards, were used as fruit samples to evaluate the detection performance of the developed SSC detector. The test showed that the root-mean-squares errors of the developed SSC detector operating in Vis/NIR range were 0.9%, 0.7%, and 0.8% for kiwifruits, nectarines, and apricots, respectively. The determined SSC value could be shown on the display in 2...
Source: Journal of Food Engineering - Category: Food Science Source Type: research