Field Application of a Vis/NIR Hyperspectral Imaging System for Nondestructive Evaluation of Physicochemical Properties in ‘Madoka’ Peaches

Extensive research has been performed on the in-field nondestructive evaluation (NDE) of the physicochemical properties of ‘Madoka’ peaches, such as chromaticity (a*), soluble solids content (SSC), firmness, and titratable acidity (TA) content. To accomplish this, a snapshot-based hyperspectral imaging (HSI) approach for filed application was conducted in the visible and near-infrared (Vis/NIR) region. The hyperspectral images of ‘Madoka’ samples were captured and combined with commercial HSI analysis software, and then the physicochemical properties of the ‘Madoka’ samples were predicted. To verify the performance of the field-based HSI application, a lab-based HSI application was also conducted, and their coefficient of determination values (R(2)) were compared. Finally, pixel-based chemical images were produced to interpret the dynamic changes of the physicochemical properties in ‘Madoka’ peach. Consequently, the a* values and SSC content shows statistically significant R(2) values (0.84). On the other hand, the firmness and TA content shows relatively lower accuracy (R(2) = 0.6 to 0.7). Then, the resultant chemical images of the a* values and SSC content were created and could represent their different levels using grey scale gradation. This indicates that the HSI system with integrated HSI software used in this work has promising potential as an in-field NDE for analyzing the physicochemical properties in ‘Madoka’ peaches.