ISSN 2375-1185
African Journal of Agronomy ISSN: 2375-1185 Vol. 10 (9), pp. 001-006, September, 2024. Available online at www.internationalscholarsjournals.org © International Scholars Journals
Full Length Research Paper
Non-Destructive Detection of Moldy Chestnuts via Near Infrared Spectroscopy
J. Liu1, X. Y. Li1*, P. W. Li2, W. Wang1, J. Zhang1,3, R. Zhang1 and P. Liu1
1College of Engineering, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, China. 2Oil Crops Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Wuhan, 430062, China. 3Key Laboratory for Highway Construction Technology and Equipment of Ministry of Education, Chang’an University, Xi’an, 710064, China.
Accepted 16 August, 2024
Abstract
One of the key agricultural crops, particularly in Asia, is chestnut. However, following harvest, mildew causes a significant loss of chestnuts. Finding and removing mouldy chestnuts is a crucial step in preventing and minimising widespread mildew. Additionally, this method is crucial in the manufacturing of food products made from chestnuts. In this study, we used near infrared spectroscopy to pinpoint mouldy chestnuts. A discriminating model was built using the near infrared spectra of 109 samples of chestnuts, including 40 samples without mildew, 40 samples with severe mildew, and 29 samples with mild mildew, spanning the wavelength range of 833 to 2500 nm. For the model's validation, a second set of samples with three mixed groups—chestnuts without mildew (n = 20), chestnuts with severe mildew (n = 20), and chestnuts with light mildew (n = 8)—was employed. The findings demonstrate that by utilising the first derivative and vector normalisation for spectra preprocessing and the Ward's algorithm as a distance algorithm approach, the best classification model based on the spectral band of 1818 - 2085 nm was attained. Sound chestnuts, somewhat mouldy chestnuts, and severely mouldy chestnuts were correctly classified at rates of 100, 92.8, and 100%, respectively. These findings showed that the near infrared spectral analysis-based discriminating model can successfully identify rotten chestnuts.
Key words: NIR, supervised pattern recognition, nondestructive detection, chestnuts, mildew.