Multispectral cereal imaging
The EU-funded CEREALSCAN (Development of optical imaging technologies to rapidly assess safety and quality of cereals) project developed optical technologies for assessing cereals. The new technology developed can measure the safety and quality of cereals post-harvest. Imaging technologies based on visible and near-infrared reflectance, fluorescence, and Raman hyperspectral imaging were investigated. Researchers first set up near-infrared and florescence systems to acquire images of cereals and seeds. The team also developed accompanying processing algorithms. Further algorithms fused data from visual and near-infrared, fluorescence, and Raman spectral imaging to give super-resolution images. The purpose was to enable detection of trace levels of contaminants. Testing confirmed the algorithms' suitability. The algorithms and other technologies were also validated for use with European cereals. CEREALSCAN contributed to the development of on-line/at-line, non-destructive optical imaging technologies that will reduce food safety risks and result in economic benefit to the cereal industry.
