Fundusze Unijne
Publications in year 1994

Vol. 8, Issue 4



Non-destructive quality measurement and modelling in fruits

International Agrophysics
Year : 1994
Volumen : 8
Issue : 3
Pages : 445 - 453
  PDF 364.74 KB
Authors: M. Ruiz-Altisent1, P. Baneiro1, J. Garcia1

1Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Dept. de Ingenieria Rural, E 28040 Madrid, Spain
Abstract :

Abstract. A European Project entitled 'Quality of fruits: Engineering research for improving the quality preservation during pre- and postharvest operations' is being carried out by six European re­search Institutions. Relevant aspects of quality of fresh fruit in the European market are investigated. Firmness sensing of selected varieties of apples, pears and avocado fruits has been developed using a non-destructive impact technique. In addition to firm­ness measurements, postharvest ripeness of apples and pears was monitored by spectrophotometric reflectance measurements, and that of avocadoes by Hunter colour measurements. The data obtained from firm­ness sensing were analysed by three analytical procedures: Principal Components, Correlation, and Stepwise Discriminant Analysis. A new software was developed to control the impact test, analyse the data, and sort the fruit into specified classes, based on the criteria ob­tained from a training run. Similar procedures were used to analyse the reflectance and colour data. Both sensing systems were able to classify fruits with good accuracy. An automatized prototype of on-line classifier has been built.

Keywords : fruit, quality, firmness, ripeness, colour
Language : English