Spectral imaging for contaminant detection on fresh food produce

The objective of this cooperative research project is to investigate non-destructive optical sensing-based comprehensive tools and techniques to rapidly assess safety and quality of fruits and vegetables and this will reduce food safety risks in pre-harvest and post-harvest production. This work will focus primarily on fresh fruits and vegetables, such as leafy greens, that have been associated with serious food safety problems, as well as other common items such as apples and tomatoes. This project will focus on the validation of the ARS optical sensing technologies for the detection of contaminated and defective fresh produce, and chemical and biological contamination of food products and processing surfaces.