Literature review: spectral imaging applied to poultry products

Consumption of poultry products is increasing worldwide, leading to an increased demand for safe, fresh, high-quality products. To ensure consumer safety and meet quality standards, poultry products must be routinely checked for fecal matter, food fraud, microbiological contamination, physical defects, and product quality. However, traditional screening methods are insufficient in providing real-time, nondestructive, chemical and spatial information about poultry products. Novel techniques, such as hyperspectral imaging (HSI), are being developed to acquire real-time chemical and spatial information about products without destruction of samples to ensure safety of products and prevent economic losses. This literature review provides a comprehensive overview of HSI applications to poultry products. The studies used for this review were found using the Google Scholar database by searching the following terms and their synonyms: “poultry” and “hyperspectral imaging”. A total of 67 studies were found to meet the criteria. After all relevant literature was compiled, studies were grouped into categories based on the specific material or characteristic of interest to be detected, identified, predicted, or quantified by HSI. Studies were found for each of the following categories: food fraud, fecal matter detection, microbiological contamination, physical defects, and product quality. Key findings and technological advancements were briefly summarized and presented for each category. Since the first application to poultry products 20 yr ago, HSI has been shown to be a successful alternative to traditional screening methods.