Low-cost optical approach for noncontact predicting moisture content of apple slices during hot air drying |
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| Authors: | Mansoureh Mozaffari Asghar Mahmoudi Kaveh Mollazade Bahareh Jamshidi |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Biosystems Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran;2. Department of Biosystems Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Kurdistan, Sanandaj, Iran;3. Agricultural Engineering Research Institute, Agricultural Research Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Karaj, Iran |
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| Abstract: | Absorption and scattering properties of product change as moisture content is reduced, but it has not been investigated how these changes are correlated. This study was aimed to measure and test the feasibility of using optical properties in predicting the moisture content of sliced apple samples during hot air drying. In this investigation, the noninvasive backscattering laser imaging technique at three wavelengths (650, 780, and 880?nm) and Farrell’s diffusion theory were used to determine absorption and reduced scattering coefficients. Artificial neural network model was applied to correlate the optical coefficients and moisture content of samples. The highest correlation between above-mentioned parameters was found at 780?nm. The best moisture content prediction result was obtained when absorption and reduced scattering coefficients were combined at three wavelengths with Rp?=?0.984. The results suggested that this method can be effectively used to predict the moisture content and control the drying process. |
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| Keywords: | Backscattering drying control Farrell’s model image analysis prediction |
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