Non-destructive ripeness sensing by using proton NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance)
- Purdue Univ., Lafayette, IN (USA). Dept. of Agricultural Engineering
- Centre National du Machinisme Agricole, du Genie Rural, des Eaux et des Forets (CEMAGREF), 34 - Montpellier (France)
More than 80 kinds of fruits and vegetables are available in the United States. But only about 6 of them have their quality standards (Dull, 1986). In the 1990 Fresh Trends survey (Zind, 1990), consumers were asked to rate 16 characteristics important to their decision to purchase fresh produce. The four top ranking factors were ripeness/freshness, taste/flavor, appearance/condition and nutritional value. Of these surveyed, 96% rated ripeness/freshness as extremely important or very important. Therefore, the development of reliable grading or sorting techniques for fresh commodities is essential. Determination of fruit quality often involves cutting and tasting. Non-destructive quality control in fruit and vegetables is a goal of growers and distributors, as well as the food processing industry. Many nondestructive techniques have been evaluated including soft x-ray, optical transmission, near infrared radiation, and machine vision. However, there are few reports of successful non-destructive measurement of sugar content directly in fruit. Higher quality fruit could be harvested and available to consumers if a nondestructive sensor that detects ripeness level directly by measuring sugar content were available. Using proton Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) principle is the possibility. A nondestructive ripeness (or sweetness) sensor for fruit quality control can be developed with the proton NMR principle (Cho, 1989). Several feasibility studies were necessary for the ripeness sensor development. Main objectives in this paper was to investigate the feasibilities (1) to detect ripeness (or sweetness level) of raw fruit tissue with an high resolution proton NMR spectroscopy (200 MHz) and (2) to measure sugar content of intact fruit with a low resolution proton NMR spectroscopy (10 MHz). 7 refs., 4 figs.
- Research Organization:
- EG and G Idaho, Inc., Idaho Falls, ID (USA)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- DOE/NE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC07-76ID01570
- OSTI ID:
- 6257259
- Report Number(s):
- EGG-M-90457; CONF-9010300-1; ON: DE91006149; TRN: 91-004693
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: AgEng '90: international conference on agricultural engineering, Berlin (Germany, F.R.), 24-26 Oct 1990
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
FRUITS
NONDESTRUCTIVE TESTING
NUCLEAR MAGNETIC RESONANCE
USES
VEGETABLES
BANANAS
CORRELATIONS
DETECTION
MAGNETIC FIELDS
PROTONS
RESEARCH PROGRAMS
RIPENING
SACCHAROSE
WATER
BARYONS
CARBOHYDRATES
DISACCHARIDES
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
FERMIONS
FOOD
HADRONS
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
MAGNETIC RESONANCE
MATERIALS TESTING
NUCLEONS
OLIGOSACCHARIDES
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PLANTS
RESONANCE
SACCHARIDES
TESTING
420500* - Engineering- Materials Testing
656002 - Condensed Matter Physics- General Techniques in Condensed Matter- (1987-)