Detection of Monilia Contamination in Plum and Plum Juice with NIR Spectroscopy and Electronic Tongue

Plums are one of the commercially important stone fruits that available on market in both fresh and processed form most sought-after products prunes, cans, jams, juices. Maturity, harvest, post-harvest technologies fundamentally determine relatively short shelf life plums which is often threatened by Monilinia spp. Causing brown rot worldwide. The aim present research was to use advanced analytical techniques, such as hand-held near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) electronic tongue (e-tongue) detect M. fructigena fungal infection quantify this contamination raw plum For purpose, were inoculated with mycelia different ways (control, intact, through injury) stored under conditions (5 °C, 24 °C) for eight days. results obtained two instruments analyzed chemometric methods, linear discriminant analysis (LDA) partial least squares regression (PLSR). NIRS-based method proved successful when detectability before appearance visible signs studied. E-tongue able concentration juice derived from developed RMSECV lower than 5% w/w. Overall, methods be suitable discriminating between treatment groups, however, classification accuracy higher samples at °C. show NIRS e-tongue beneficial reduce food waste providing rapid determination fruit quality.