Influence of physical and biological variability and solution methods in fruit and vegetable quality nondestructive inspection by using imaging and near-infrared spectroscopy techniques: A review

Over the past decades, imaging and spectroscopy techniques have been rapidly developing and widely applied in nondestructive fruit and vegetable quality assessment. The physical properties (including size, shape, color, position, and temperature) and biological properties (including cultivar, season, maturity level and geographical origin) of fruits and vegetables vary from one to another. A great variety of physical and biological properties of agricultural products influence the optical propagation properties and interaction behaviors with incident light, thus decreasing the quality inspection accuracy. Many attempts have been made in image correction and spectral compensation methods to improve the inspection accuracy. This paper gives a detailed summary about influence of physical and biological variability, as well as the correction and compensation methods for eliminating or reducing the effects in fruit and vegetable quality nondestructive inspection by using imaging and spectroscopy techniques. The advantages and disadvantages of the solution methods are discussed and summarized. Additionally, the future challenges and potential trends are also reported.