Location: Tropical Crop and Commodity Protection Research
Title: X-ray technology in postharvestAuthor
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Submitted to: Book Chapter
Publication Type: Book / Chapter Publication Acceptance Date: 3/9/2023 Publication Date: 6/28/2023 Citation: Liang, P. 2023. X-Ray Technology in Postharvest. In: Zhang, Q. (eds) Encyclopedia of Smart Agriculture Technologies. Springer, Cham. p. 1-10. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-89123-7_208-1 Interpretive Summary: This book chapter discusses two major applications of x-ray technology in postharvest: food irradiation to extend shelf-life, improve safety, and reduce pest infestation, and imaging to detect defects, contaminants, and pest infestations in agricultural commodities. Over the decades, x-ray technology has transformed significantly due to technological advances and increasing computing capability and will continue to grow and provide advanced solutions to the agriculture community. Technical Abstract: X-rays are electromagnetic radiation near the high energy end of the electromagnetic spectrum and are considered a type of ionizing radiation due to their high energy and the ability to remove electrons from atoms or molecules. In postharvest, there are two common uses of x-rays: food irradiation and imaging. Food irradiation is a preservation technique using ionizing radiation, including x-rays, to lengthen shelf-life, postpone microbial spoilage and reduce the occurrence of foodborne contamination, and disinfest commodities of pests. X-ray imaging is also one of the many technologies used to ensure the quality and safety of food products due to its ability to non-destructively inspect internal quality of food products. With the rapid technological advances in hardware (configurations, x-ray sources, detectors, etc.) and software (image processing and analysis, detection algorithms, general computational powers), x-rays continues to be a very attractive option in postharvest technology. |
