Design and Experiment of Online Detection System for Water Content of Fresh Tea Leaves after Harvesting Based on Near Infra-Red Spectroscopy

Fresh tea leaves continuously lose water after harvesting, and the level of water content directly affects the configuration of tea processing parameters. To address this problem, this study established an online detection system for the water content of fresh tea leaves after harvesting based on near-infrared spectroscopy. The online acquisition and analysis system of the temperature and humidity sensor signal data was developed based on LabVIEW and Python software platforms. Near-infrared spectral data, environmental temperature, and humidity were collected from fresh leaves after harvesting. Spectral data were combined with PLS (partial least squares) to develop a prediction model for the water content of fresh tea leaves. Simultaneously, data communication between LabVIEW and PLC was established, laying the foundation for establishing a feedback mechanism to send the prediction results to the main platform of the lower computer. This provides a more objective and accurate basis for the detection of fresh leaves before processing and regulation during processing, thereby effectively promoting the standardisation and intelligent development of tea-processing equipment.