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ARS Home » Midwest Area » East Lansing, Michigan » Sugarbeet and Bean Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #322020
Research Project: Nondestructive Quality Assessment and Grading of Fruits and Vegetables

Location: Sugarbeet and Bean Research

Title: Overview of light interaction with food and biological materials

Author
item Lu, Renfu

Submitted to: Book Chapter
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/25/2015
Publication Date: 5/1/2016
Citation: Lu, R. 2016. Overview of light interaction with food and biological materials. In: Lu, R., editor. Light Scattering Technology for Food Property, Quality and Safety Assessment. Abingdon, United Kingdom: CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group. p. 19-42.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: This chapter presents the basic phenomena occurring during the interaction of light with biological and food materials, which form the foundation for different light scattering techniques that have been developed for property, quality and safety assessment of food and agricultural products. We first discuss the reflection and transmission of light at the interface of two optically homogeneous media, followed with an overview on diffuse reflection and transmission from the surface of food and biological materials. We then present basic concepts about the interaction of light with food and biological materials in the form of absorption and scattering. Three types of scattering, i.e., Rayleigh, Mie and Raman, are reviewed and their implications in determining the properties and quality of food and agricultural products are discussed.