Emerging non-destructive thermal imaging technique coupled with chemometrics on quality and safety inspection in food and agriculture

Abstract

BackgroundThermal imaging is a non-destructive technique which has emerged as a powerful analytical tool in the agriculture and food industries. Thermal imaging analysis converts the radiation pattern of a sample based on the temperature differences in analysis and diagnosis of the object. Scope and approachThis review provides an insight on the thermal imaging principles, system components, as well as image processing and analysis. The combination of chemometrics with thermal imaging techniques has extensive use to determine the quality and safety of food products, as the analysis allows for the non-destructive and comparatively rapid testing of materials compared to conventional methods. In this review, potential applications of thermal imaging in food quality determination and safety inspection including postharvest quality, crop yield and estimation, pathogen detection, and monitoring temperature in food were discussed. Key findings and conclusionsAttention to the thermal imaging device has greatly increased due to the promising alternative in the quality and safety inspection in food and agriculture. The challenges and future perspectives regarding thermal imaging techniques evaluated by chemometrics were also elucidated. This review demonstrated that thermal imaging technique is useful in monitoring quality and safety inspection of food, especially in agriculture and food processing industries.