Visible/near infrared spectroscopy for horticulture: case studies from pre-harvest to post-harvest

The Italian agri-food system is mostly characterized by small and medium-sized enterprises (SME). They are characterized by the lack of crucial information for the management and control of their processes. The main parameters related to important information to better lead the decision-making stages of the production process (e.g. decide the harvest time, monitoring shelf life and post-harvest life, etc.) need to be measured in a simple, quick and objective way. From this point of view, the optical techniques based on visible near-infrared spectroscopy (vis/NIR) are an established, simple and rapid application for the analysis of many parameters related to productions quality. Vis/NIR and NIR optical systems potentially represent a valid support to the various supply chains. Nevertheless, the available optical systems are complex and expensive devices and their real use in SME is still very limited. The aim of the research was to test commercial hand-held devices and prototypes of low-costs and user-friendly systems, useful for different applications from pre-harvest to post-harvest. In some case, procedures for the selection of specific information-rich wavelengths were also performed. This work proposed a collection of case studies regarding the application of vis/NIR spectroscopy on different matrices and pursuing different goals: on (i) grape and (ii) blueberry for ripening evaluation, on (iii) cultivated mushrooms to control quality at harvest, and (iv) for senescence monitoring of fresh-cut baby leaf salad during shelf life. A Light Emitting Diode (LED) based prototype at four specific wavelengths (630, 690, 750 and 850 nm) was proposed and tested on grape for estimating ripeness analysis. A commercial hand-held vis/NIR device was applied on others horticultural products to reach the proposed objectives. The use of these devices could be helpful for a more rational and objective monitoring of the products quality, leading to an optimization of the supply chains to provide a better product to the consumers.