Jia-Huan Qu

Feasibility of using hyperspectral imaging to predict moisture content of porcine meat during salting process.

The feasibility of using hyperspectral imaging technique (1000-2500 nm) for predicting moisture content (MC) during the salting process of porcine meat was assessed. Different spectral profiles including reflectance spectra (RS), absorbance spectra (AS) and Kubelka-Munk spectra (KMS) were examined to investigate the influence of spectroscopic transformations on predicting moisture content of salted pork slice. The best full-wavelength partial least squares regression (PLSR) models were acquired based on reflectance spectra (Rc(2)=0.969, RMSEC=0.921%; Rc(2)=0.941, RMSEP=1.23%). On the basis of the optimal wavelengths identified using the regression coefficient, two calibration models of PLSR and multiple linear regression (MLR) were compared. The optimal RS-MLR model was considered to be the best for determining the moisture content of salted pork, with a Rc(2) of 0.917 and RMSEP of 1.48%. Visualisation of moisture distribution in each pixel of the hyperspectral image using the prediction model display moisture evolution and migration in pork slices.

Applications of Near-infrared Spectroscopy in Food Safety Evaluation and Control: A Review of Recent Research Advances

Food safety is a critical public concern, and has drawn great attention in society. Consequently, developments of rapid, robust, and accurate methods and techniques for food safety evaluation and control are required. As a nondestructive and convenient tool, near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) has been widely shown to be a promising technique for food safety inspection and control due to its huge advantages of speed, noninvasive measurement, ease of use, and minimal sample preparation requirement. This review presents the fundamentals of NIRS and focuses on recent advances in its applications, during the last 10 years of food safety control, in meat, fish and fishery products, edible oils, milk and dairy products, grains and grain products, fruits and vegetables, and others. Based upon these applications, it can be demonstrated that NIRS, combined with chemometric methods, is a powerful tool for food safety surveillance and for the elimination of the occurrence of food safety problems. Some disadvantages that need to be solved or investigated with regard to the further development of NIRS are also discussed.

Applications of Computer Vision for Assessing Quality of Agri-food Products: A Review of Recent Research Advances

With consumer concerns increasing over food quality and safety, the food industry has begun to pay much more attention to the development of rapid and reliable food-evaluation systems over the years. As a result, there is a great need for manufacturers and retailers to operate effective real-time assessments for food quality and safety during food production and processing. Computer vision, comprising a nondestructive assessment approach, has the aptitude to estimate the characteristics of food products with its advantages of fast speed, ease of use, and minimal sample preparation. Specifically, computer vision systems are feasible for classifying food products into specific grades, detecting defects, and estimating properties such as color, shape, size, surface defects, and contamination. Therefore, in order to track the latest research developments of this technology in the agri-food industry, this review aims to present the fundamentals and instrumentation of computer vision systems with details of applications in quality assessment of agri-food products from 2007 to 2013 and also discuss its future trends in combination with spectroscopy.

Applications of Imaging Spectrometry in Inland Water Quality Monitoring—a Review of Recent Developments

Inland waters represent complex and highly variable ecosystems, which are also of immense recreational and economic values to humans. The maintenance of high quality of inland water status necessitates development of means for rapid quality monitoring. Imaging spectrometry techniques are proven technology that can provide useful information for the estimation of inland water quality attributes due to fast speed, noninvasiveness, ease of use, and in situ operation. Although there have been many studies conducted on the use of imaging spectrometry for marine water quality monitoring and assessment, relatively few studies have considered inland water bodies. The aim of this review is to present an overview of imaging spectrometry technologies for the monitoring of inland waters including spaceborne and airborne and field or ground-based hyperspectral systems. Some viewpoints on the current situation and suggestions for future research directions are also proposed.

Carbon dots: Principles and their applications in food quality and safety detection

ABSTRACT In the past ten years, as a novel and prospective nanomaterials, carbon dots have acquired tremendous attention for their unique optical and physicochemical properties, high compatibility and low cost, as well as great potential in sensing area. This review aims to present the current detecting principles based on carbon dots and other nano biological technologies, involving fluorescence quenching and recovery mechanisms. The synthetic and modificatory approaches in making carbon dots including top-down and bottom-up methods, as well as surface passivation and heteroatom doping ways are introduced. Their applications in food area, concerning detection of nutrients, restricted or banned substances as well as foodborne pathogenic bacteria and the toxins secreted are discussed. Finally, the difficulties to be overcome or problems to be solved are presented, and other novel techniques to combine with carbon dots to obtain more stable and specific nanosensors in various fields are proposed. Although carbon dots based sensors have shown the potential in sensing aspect of food area, as food samples are complex in compositions that may cause interferences, more novel techniques are needed to combine with carbon dots to develop sensitive and specific sensing probes.