X-ray imaging methods for internal quality evaluation of agricultural produce

Abstract

A number of non-destructive methods for internal quality evaluation have been studied by different researchers over the past eight decades. X-ray and computed tomography imaging techniques are few of them which are gaining popularity now days in various fields of agriculture and food quality evaluation. These techniques, so far predominantly used in medical applications, have also been explored for internal quality inspection of various agricultural products non-destructively, when quality features are not visible on the surface of the products. Though, safety of operators and time required for tests are of concern, the non-destructive nature of these techniques has great potential for wide applications on agricultural produce. This paper presents insight of X-ray based non-destructive techniques such as X-ray imaging and Computed Tomography (CT). The concepts, properties, equipment and their parameters, systems and applications associated with the use of X-rays and CT for agricultural produce have been elaborated.

Keywords: Agricultural produce; Computed tomography; Digital radiography; Internal quality evaluation; Non-destructive quality inspection; X-ray imaging.