Development of a Non-Destructive Method for Detection of the Juiciness of Pear via VIS/NIR Spectroscopy Combined with Chemometric Methods

Feature Selection and Spectral Indices for Identifying Maize Stress Types

This study aims to identify different types of stress on maize leaves using feature selection and spectral index methods. Spectral data were collected from leaves under heavy metal, water, fertilizer stress, as well as under normal healthy conditions. Preprocessing steps such as continuum removal (CR), standard normal variable (SNV) transformation, multiple scattering correction (MSC), detrend correction (DT), and first-order derivative (FOD) were applied to the raw spectra. Various feature selection methods including ReliefF, chi-square test, recursive feature elimination (FRE), mutual information (MI), random forest (RF), and gradient boosting tree (GBT) were employed to determine the importance scores of different spectral bands, thus identifying sensitive spectral features capable of distinguishing various stress types. Spectral indices for stress type differentiation were constructed using label correlation method. Classification models were built using support vector machine (SVM), K-nearest neighbors (KNN), Gaussian naive Bayes (GNB), extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost), RF, and adaptive boosting (AdaBoost) algorithms. Results indicate that the characteristic spectral bands for differentiating stress types are primarily distributed around the red edge (near 700-800 nm) and water absorption valley (near 1900 nm). Spectral indices constructed using combinations of spectral bands around the near-infrared plateau absorption valley (near 1185 nm) and water absorption valley (near 1460 nm) effectively differentiate maize stress types. Among the modeling classification algorithms, RF and AdaBoost algorithms exhibited optimal performance, demonstrating high classification accuracy on both training and validation sets. These findings hold promise for providing new technical support for maize stress monitoring and diagnosis in agricultural production.

High-throughput near-infrared spectroscopy for detection of major components and quality grading of peas

Pea (Pisum sativum L.) is a nutrient-dense legume whose nutritional indicators influence its functional qualities. Traditional methods to identify these components and examine the relationships between their contents could be more laborious, hindering the quality assessment of the varieties of peas. This study conducted a statistical analysis of data about the sensory and physicochemical nutritional attributes of peas acquired using traditional techniques. Additionally, 90 sets of spectral data were obtained using a portable near-infrared spectrometer, which were then integrated with chemical values to create a near-infrared model for the basic ingredient content of peas. The correlation analysis revealed significant findings: pea starch displayed a substantial negative correlation with moisture, crude fiber, and crude protein, while showing a highly significant positive correlation with pea seed thickness. Furthermore, pea protein exhibited a significant positive correlation with crude fiber and crude fat. Cluster analysis classified all pea varieties into three distinct groups, successfully distinguishing those with elevated protein content, high starch content, and low-fat content. The combined contribution of PC1 and PC2 in the principal component analysis (PCA) was 51.2%. Partial least squares regression (PLSR) and other spectral preprocessing methods improved the predictive model, which performed well with an external dataset, with calibration coefficients of 0.89-0.99 and prediction coefficients of 0.71-0.88. This method enables growers and processors to efficiently analyze the composition of peas and evaluate crop quality, thereby enhancing food industry development.

Non-Destructive Evaluation of the Physiochemical Properties of Milk Drink Flavored with Date Syrup Utilizing VIS-NIR Spectroscopy and ANN Analysis

A milk drink flavored with date syrup produced at a lab scale level was evaluated. The production process of date syrup involves a sequence of essential unit operations, commencing with the extraction, filtration, and concentration processes from two cultivars: Sukkary and Khlass. Date syrup was then mixed with cow's and camel's milk at four percentages to form a nutritious, natural, sweet, and energy-rich milk drink. The sensory, physical, and chemical characteristics of the milk drinks flavored with date syrup were examined. The objective of this work was to measure the physiochemical properties of date fruits and milk drinks flavored with date syrup, and then to evaluate the physical properties of milk drinks utilizing non-destructive visible-near-infrared spectra (VIS-NIR). The study assessed the characteristics of the milk drink enhanced with date syrup by employing VIS-NIR spectra and utilizing a partial least-square regression (PLSR) and artificial neural network (ANN) analysis. The VIS-NIR spectra proved to be highly effective in estimating the physiochemical attributes of the flavored milk drink. The ANN model outperformed the PLSR model in this context. RMSECV is considered a more reliable indicator of a model's future predictive performance compared to RMSEC, and the R2 value ranged between 0.946 and 0.989. Consequently, non-destructive VIS-NIR technology demonstrates significant promise for accurately predicting and contributing to the entire production process of the product's properties examined.

Cotton-Net: efficient and accurate rapid detection of impurity content in machine-picked seed cotton using near-infrared spectroscopy

Widespread adoption of machine-picked cotton in China, the impurity content of seed cotton has increased significantly. This impurity content holds direct implications for the valuation of seed cotton and exerts a consequential influence on the ensuing quality of processed lint and textiles. Presently, the primary approach for assessing impurity content in seed cotton primarily depends on semi-automated testing instruments, exhibiting suboptimal detection efficiency and not well-suited for the impurity detection requirements during the purchase of seed cotton. To address this challenge, this study introduces a seed cotton near-infrared spectral (NIRS) data acquisition system, facilitating the rapid collection of seed cotton spectral data. Three pretreatment algorithms, namely SG (Savitzky-Golay convolutional smoothing), SNV (Standard Normal Variate Transformation), and Normalization, were applied to preprocess the seed cotton spectral data. Cotton-Net, a one-dimensional convolutional neural network aligned with the distinctive characteristics of the seed cotton spectral data, was developed in order to improve the prediction accuracy of seed cotton impurity content. Ablation experiments were performed, utilizing SELU, ReLU, and Sigmoid functions as activation functions. The experimental outcomes revealed that after normalization, employing SELU as the activation function led to the optimal performance of Cotton-Net, displaying a correlation coefficient of 0.9063 and an RMSE (Root Mean Square Error) of 0.0546. In the context of machine learning modeling, the LSSVM model, developed after Normalization and Random Frog algorithm processing, demonstrated superior performance, achieving a correlation coefficient of 0.8662 and an RMSE of 0.0622. In comparison, the correlation coefficient of Cotton-Net increased by 4.01%. This approach holds significant potential to underpin the subsequent development of rapid detection instruments targeting seed cotton impurities.

Robustness of calibration model for prediction of lignin content in different batches of snow pears based on NIR spectroscopy

Snow pear is very popular in southwest China thanks to its fruit texture and potential medicinal value. Lignin content (LC) plays a direct and negative role (higher concentration and larger size of stone cells lead to thicker pulp and deterioration of the taste) in determining the fruit texture of snow pears as well as consumer purchasing decisions of fresh pears. In this study, we assessed the robustness of a calibration model for predicting LC in different batches of snow pears using a portable near-infrared (NIR) spectrometer, with the range of 1033-2300 nm. The average NIR spectra at nine different measurement positions of snow pear samples purchased at four different periods (batch A, B, C and D) were collected. We developed a standard normal variate transformation (SNV)-genetic algorithm (GA) -the partial least square regression (PLSR) model (master model A) - to predict LC in batch A of snow pear samples based on 80 selected effective wavelengths, with a higher correlation coefficient of prediction set (Rp) of 0.854 and a lower root mean square error of prediction set (RMSEP) of 0.624, which we used as the prediction model to detect LC in three other batches of snow pear samples. The performance of detecting the LC of batch B, C, and D samples by the master model A directly was poor, with lower Rp and higher RMSEP. The independent semi-supervision free parameter model enhancement (SS-FPME) method and the sequential SS-FPME method were used and compared to update master model A to predict the LC of snow pears. For the batch B samples, the predictive ability of the updated model (Ind-model AB) was improved, with an Rp of 0.837 and an RMSEP of 0.614. For the batch C samples, the performance of the Seq-model ABC was improved greatly, with an Rp of 0.952 and an RMSEP of 0.383. For the batch D samples, the performance of the Seq-model ABCD was also improved, with an Rp of 0.831 and an RMSEP of 0.309. Therefore, the updated model based on supervision and learning of new batch samples by the sequential SS-FPME method could improve the robustness and migration ability of the model used to detect the LC of snow pears and provide technical support for the development and practical application of portable detection device.

FT-IR combined with chemometrics in the quality evaluation of Nongxiangxing baijiu

Recently, there has been an increasing demand for developing a reliable method to assess the quality of liquor in the baijiu industry quickly and accurately. The present study sought to establish a strategy for rapid quantitative analysis of the primary flavor components in Nongxiangxing baijiu. Under the experimental conditions, 7 of the 10 major flavor components in Nongxiangxing baijiu could be quantified effectively, such as ethyl butyrate (R²p = 0.9942), ethyl lactate (R²p = 0.9438), n-butanol (R²p = 0.9048), isobutanol (R²p = 0.9696), acetic acid (R²p = 0.9600), butyric acid (R²p = 0.8448), caproic acid (R²p = 0.9971). This result indicates that FT-IR combined with quantitative chemometric modeling could be a potential approach for rapid quality assessment of Nongxiangxing baijiu. Overall, this study provides a theoretical basis for subsequent related studies on Nongxiangxing baijiu.

Intelligent Evaluation of Stone Cell Content of Korla Fragrant Pears by Vis/NIR Reflection Spectroscopy

Stone cells are a distinctive characteristic of pears and their formation negatively affects the quality of the fruit. To evaluate the stone cell content (SCC) of Korla fragrant pears, we developed a Vis/NIR spectroscopy system that allowed for the adjustment of the illuminating angle. The successive projective algorithm (SPA) and the Monte Carlo uninformative variable elimination (MCUVE) based on the sampling algorithm were used to select characteristic wavelengths. The particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm was used to optimize the combination of penalty factor C and kernel function parameter g. Support vector regression (SVR) was used to construct the evaluation model of the SCC. The SCC of the calibration set ranged from 0.240% to 0.657% and that of the validation set ranged from 0.315% to 0.652%. The SPA and MCUVE were used to optimize 57 and 83 characteristic wavelengths, respectively. The combinations of C and g were (6.2561, 0.2643) and (2.5133, 0.1128), respectively, when different characteristic wavelengths were used as inputs of SVR, indicating that the first combination had good generalization ability. The correlation coefficients of the SPA-SVR model after pre-processing the standardized normal variate (SNV) for both sets were 0.966 and 0.951, respectively. These results show that the SNV-SPA-SVR model satisfied the requirements of intelligent evaluation of SCC in Korla fragrant pears.

Nondestructive Testing of Pear Based on Fourier Near-Infrared Spectroscopy

Fourier transform near-infrared (FT-NIR) spectroscopy is a nondestructive, rapid, real-time analysis of technical detection methods with an important reference value for producers and consumers. In this study, the feasibility of using FT-NIR spectroscopy for the rapid quantitative analysis and qualitative analysis of ‘Zaosu’ and ‘Dangshansuli’ pears is explored. The quantitative model was established by partial least squares (PLS) regression combined with cross-validation based on the spectral data of 340 pear fresh fruits and synchronized with the reference values determined by conventional assays. Furthermore, NIR spectroscopy combined with cluster analysis was used to identify varieties of ‘Zaosu’ and ‘Dangshansuli’. As a result, the model developed using FT-NIR spectroscopy gave the best results for the prediction models of soluble solid content (SSC) and titratable acidity (TA) of ‘Dangshansuli’ (residual prediction deviation, RPD: 3.272 and 2.239), which were better than those developed for ‘Zaosu’ SSC and TA modeling (RPD: 1.407 and 1.471). The results also showed that the variety identification of ‘Zaosu’ and ‘Dangshansuli’ could be carried out based on FT-NIR spectroscopy, and the discrimination accuracy was 100%. Overall, FT-NIR spectroscopy is a good tool for rapid and nondestructive analysis of the internal quality and variety identification of fresh pears.

Determination of Cultivation Regions and Quality Parameters of Poria cocos by Near-Infrared Spectroscopy and Chemometrics

Poria cocos (PC) is an important fungus with high medicinal and nutritional values. However, the quality of PC is heavily dependent on multiple factors in the cultivation regions. Traditional methods are not able to perform quality evaluation for this fungus in a short time, and a new method is needed for rapid quality assessment. Here, we used near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy combined with chemometric method to identify the cultivation regions and determine PC chemical compositions. In our study, 138 batches of samples were collected and their cultivation regions were distinguished by combining NIR spectroscopy and random forest method (RFM) with an accuracy as high as 92.59%. In the meantime, we used partial least square regression (PLSR) to build quantitative models and measure the content of water-soluble extract (WSE), ethanol-soluble extract (ASE), polysaccharides (PSC) and the sum of five triterpenoids (SFT). The performance of these models were verified with correlation coefficients (R²_cal and R²_pre) above 0.9 for the four quality parameters and the relative errors (RE) of PSC, WSE, ASE and SFT at 4.055%, 3.821%, 4.344% and 3.744%, respectively. Overall, a new approach was developed and validated which is able to distinguish PC production regions, quantify its chemical contents, and effectively evaluate PC quality.

Non-destructive prediction of the hotness of fresh pepper with a single scan using portable near infrared spectroscopy and a variable selection strategy

There has been no study on using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) to predict the hotness of fresh pepper. This study is aimed at developing a non-destructive and accurate method for determining the hotness of fresh peppers using portable NIRS and the variable selection strategy. Spectra from different locations on samples were obtained non-destructively with a single scan. Quantitative models were established using partial least squares (PLS) with a variable selection method or fusion method. The results showed that near-stalk was the best spectral acquisition location for quantitative analysis. The variable selection strategy allows the selection of targeted characteristic variables and improves the results. A fusion method, namely variable adaptive boosting partial least squares (VABPLS), was selected for optimal prediction of the performance. In the optimized model, the root mean square errors of prediction for the validation set (RMSEPvs) of capsaicin, dihydrocapsaicin and pungency degree were 0.295, 0.143 and 47.770, respectively, while the root mean square errors of prediction for the prediction set (RMSEPps) collected one month later were 0.273, 0.346 and 75.524, respectively.

Nondestructive Detection of Weight Loss Rate, Surface Color, Vitamin C Content, and Firmness in Mini-Chinese Cabbage with Nanopackaging by Fourier Transform-Near Infrared Spectroscopy

A nondestructive optical method is described for the quality assessment of mini-Chinese cabbage with nanopackaging during its storage, using Fourier transform-near infrared (FT-NIR) spectroscopy. The sample quality attributes measured included weight loss rate, surface color index, vitamin C content, and firmness. The level of freshness of the mini-Chinese cabbage during storage was divided into three categories. Partial least squares regression (PLSR) and the least squares support vector machine were applied to spectral datasets in order to develop prediction models for each quality attribute. For a comparative analysis of performance, the five preprocessing methods applied were standard normal variable (SNV), first derivative (lst), second derivative (2nd), multiplicative scattering correction (MSC), and auto scale. The SNV-PLSR model exhibited the best prediction performance for weight loss rate (Rp2 = 0.96, RMSEP = 1.432%). The 1st-PLSR model showed the best prediction performance for L* value (Rp2 = 0.89, RMSEP = 3.25 mg/100 g), but also the lowest accuracy for firmness (Rp2 = 0.60, RMSEP = 2.453). The best classification model was able to predict freshness levels with 88.8% accuracy in mini-Chinese cabbage by supported vector classification (SVC). This study illustrates that the spectral profile obtained by FT-NIR spectroscopy could potentially be implemented for integral assessments of the internal and external quality attributes of mini-Chinese cabbage with nanopacking during storage.

Nondestructive Analysis of Internal Quality in Pears with a Self-Made Near-Infrared Spectrum Detector Combined with Multivariate Data Processing

The consumption of pears has increased, thanks not only to their delicious and juicy flavor, but also their rich nutritional value. Traditional methods of detecting internal qualities (e.g., soluble solid content (SSC), titratable acidity (TA), and taste index (TI)) of pears are reliable, but they are destructive, time-consuming, and polluting. It is necessary to detect internal qualities of pears rapidly and nondestructively by using near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy. In this study, we used a self-made NIR spectrum detector with an improved variable selection algorithm, named the variable stability and cluster analysis algorithm (VSCAA), to establish a partial least squares regression (PLSR) model to detect SSC content in snow pears. VSCAA is a variable selection method based on the combination of variable stability and cluster analysis to select the infrared spectrum variables. To reflect the advantages of VSCAA, we compared the classical variable selection methods (synergy interval partial least squares (SiPLS), genetic algorithm (GA), successive projections algorithm (SPA), and bootstrapping soft shrinkage (BOSS)) to extract useful wavelengths. The PLSR model, based on the useful variables selected by SiPLS-VSCAA, was optimal for measuring SSC in pears, and the correlation coefficient of calibration (Rc), root mean square error of cross validation (RMSECV), correlation coefficient of prediction (Rp), root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP), and residual predictive deviation (RPD) were 0.942, 0.198%, 0.936, 0.222%, and 2.857, respectively. Then, we applied these variable selection methods to select the characteristic wavelengths for measuring the TA content and TI value in snow pears. The prediction PLSR models, based on the variables selected by GA-BOSS to measure TA and that by GA-VSCAA to detect TI, were the best models, and the Rc, RMSECV, Rp and RPD were 0.931, 0.124%, 0.912, 0.151%, and 2.434 and 0.968, 0.080%, 0.968, 0.089%, and 3.775, respectively. The results showed that the self-made NIR-spectrum detector based on a portable NIR spectrometer with multivariate data processing was a good tool for rapid and nondestructive analysis of internal quality in pears.