Researchers at the Dublin Institute of Technology and University College Dublin (Dublin, Ireland) have demonstrated that a hyperspectral imaging system could be used to evaluate the quality of mushrooms.
Brown blotch is the most problematic bacterial disease in Agaricus bisporus mushrooms -- otherwise known as the common, button, or white mushroom. It reduces their appeal to consumers and causes financial losses to suppliers.
In their work, the researchers took hyperspectral images of mushrooms subjected to no treatment, microbiological spoilage, and mechanical damage and used data from the hyperspectral images of each set to build models that could be used to classify future batches of mushrooms depending on their physical condition.
Knowledge gained in the research is being employed to develop a system that will be able to detect and classify mushroom damage by different means. The researchers believe that such a system will aid the industry in increasing quality control standards by correctly identifying low-quality produce.
More information on the research is available here.
-- By Dave Wilson, Senior Editor, Vision Systems Design
