Abstract
Bananas are some of the most popular fruits around the world. However, there is limited research that explores hyperspectral imaging of bananas and its relationship with the chemical composition and growing conditions. In the study, the relations that exist between the visible near-infrared hyperspectral reflectance imaging data in the 400–1000 nm range of the bananas collected from different countries, the compositional traits and local growing conditions (altitude, temperature and rainfall) and production management (organic/conventional) were explored. The main compositional traits included moisture, starch, dietary fibre, protein, carotene content and the CIE L*a*b* colour values were also determined. The principal component analysis showed the preliminary separation of bananas from different geographical origins and production systems. The compositional and spectral data revealed positively and negatively moderate correlations (r around ±0.50, p < 0.05) between the carotene, starch content, and colour values (a*, b*) on the one hand and the wavelength ranges 405–525 nm, 615–645 nm, 885–985 nm on the other hand. Since the variation in composition and colour values were related to rainfall and temperature, the spectral information is likely also influenced by the growing conditions. The results could be useful to the industry for the improvement of banana quality and traceability.
Highlights
It has been shown that eating bananas provides health benefits in respect of hypertension, cancer, diabetes and depression [1], given their composition of several essential nutrients, such as potassium, vitamins, carotenoids, manganese, fibre and dopamine [2]
The groups in the principal component analysis (PCA) plots are labelled at farm level other than the country level as several farms originated from the same countries but were cultivated with different production systems
The sample grouping based on geographical origin and production system can be seen in the same PCA
Summary
It has been shown that eating bananas provides health benefits in respect of hypertension, cancer, diabetes and depression [1], given their composition of several essential nutrients, such as potassium, vitamins, carotenoids, manganese, fibre and dopamine [2]. Bananas can be added to a regular diet by eating fresh fruits or by adding them to other foods (i.e., yoghurt or smoothies). Bananas are globally frequently consumed fresh fruit. The health benefits associated with the consumption of bananas and related processed products are highly correlated with the essential nutritional contents [3,4], while the quality and composition of bananas are affected by their origin and related growing conditions. Previous studies have demonstrated the effect of origin and related growing conditions on the composition of fruits. Margraf et al [5] reported that the geographical origin can influence the total soluble solids of Brazilian grape juices, while research on olive fruits from five different
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