Monitoring and Optimization of the Process of Drying Fruits and Vegetables Using Computer Vision: A Review

Flavio Raponi, Roberto Moscetti, Danilo Monarca, Andrea Colantoni and Riccardo Massantini
Additional contact information
Flavio Raponi: Department for Innovation in Biological, Agro-food and Forest system (DIBAF), Tuscia University, 01100 Viterbo, Italy
Roberto Moscetti: Department for Innovation in Biological, Agro-food and Forest system (DIBAF), Tuscia University, 01100 Viterbo, Italy
Danilo Monarca: Department of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences, (DAFNE) Tuscia University, Via San Camillo de Lellis snc, 01100 Viterbo, Italy
Andrea Colantoni: Department of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences, (DAFNE) Tuscia University, Via San Camillo de Lellis snc, 01100 Viterbo, Italy
Riccardo Massantini: Department for Innovation in Biological, Agro-food and Forest system (DIBAF), Tuscia University, 01100 Viterbo, Italy

Sustainability, 2017, vol. 9, issue 11, 1-27

Abstract: An overview is given regarding the most recent use of non-destructive techniques during drying used to monitor quality changes in fruits and vegetables. Quality changes were commonly investigated in order to improve the sensory properties (i.e., appearance, texture, flavor and aroma), nutritive values, chemical constituents and mechanical properties of drying products. The application of single-point spectroscopy coupled with drying was discussed by virtue of its potentiality to improve the overall efficiency of the process. With a similar purpose, the implementation of a machine vision (MV) system used to inspect foods during drying was investigated; MV, indeed, can easily monitor physical changes (e.g., color, size, texture and shape) in fruits and vegetables during the drying process. Hyperspectral imaging spectroscopy is a sophisticated technology since it is able to combine the advantages of spectroscopy and machine vision. As a consequence, its application to drying of fruits and vegetables was reviewed. Finally, attention was focused on the implementation of sensors in an on-line process based on the technologies mentioned above. This is a necessary step in order to turn the conventional dryer into a smart dryer, which is a more sustainable way to produce high quality dried fruits and vegetables.

Keywords: non-destructive technique; visible-near infrared spectroscopy (Vis-NIR); chemometrics; hyper-/multi-spectral imaging spectroscopy; drying process optimization; quality changes during drying (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/9/11/2009/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/9/11/2009/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:9:y:2017:i:11:p:2009-:d:117359

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().