Hyperspectral Imaging for Food Quality Assessment

Overview— Consumer concerns regarding the quality and safety of the food they buy and consume, is on the rise with the increasing food miles from farm to fork. Thus, Food Supply Chains (FSC’s) need to incorporate advanced technologies such as “Hyperspectral Imaging or Imaging Spectroscopy” towards assuring the quality and safety of foods. However, the rate of diffusion and adaptation of Hyperspectral Imaging (HSI) within Food Chains is quite slow due to preconceived opinions on the costs associated with acquiring the images and the amount of pre-processing and post-processing requirements for quality assessment. Therefore, this report attempts to provide an overview of the “Hyperspectral Imaging Process” along with recent developments and applications within the FSC’s, to uncover the preconceived opinions on the costs associated with acquiring the hyperspectral images and the complexities related to pre-processing and post-processing of data captured from hyperspectral images, for wisdom enhancement to help gauge the benefits of deploying the full potential of the HSI systems for real-time monitoring of quality and safety of foods.