Techniques for Imaging Produce to Improve Food Safety and Quality

This report presents the development of a pre-harvest method and post-harvest technique used to image produce in order to improve food safety and quality. The pre-harvest method includes developing a time-resolved, hyperspectral line scan laser-induced fluorescence imaging system to detect fecal contamination in crop fields. Experimental studies show the effective homogenization of the system's laser and the ability of this system to accurately detect an artificially contaminated apple. The post-harvest technique involves orienting tomatoes to facilitate machine vision for non-destructive imaging. This expands on previous studies that indicate the ability to orient quasi-round fruit their inertial properties. Orientation test were conducted using three tomato cultivars which represented the extremes in potential shapes of tomatoes. Results support the theoretical finding that elongated and squat objects are relatively easy to orient, and round objects are difficult to orient. Both devices are commercially-viable and address the current needs of the food industry