Visible and near infrared hyperspectral imaging to early detection of fungal infection in strawberry fruits

Introduction Strawberries (Fragaria ananassa Duchesne) are one of the most popular berry fruits in the world. Due to their delicate structure, this fruits are susceptible to mechanical injury, desiccation, decay and physiological disorders during harvest and storage (Reddy at al., 2000). The heaviest economic losses are the result of fungi infections, which can occur both on immature fruits pre-harvest, or on mature fruits at harvest or in the postharvest storage stage (Guidarelli et al., 2011). The most common pathogens of strawberries are Botrytis cinerea and Colletotrichum acutatum. Recent studies illustrate the wide applicability of HIS on detection of fungal infections in fruits, seeds and plants, some examples are its application for identifying fruits infected with citrus black spot (Kim et al., 2014), detection of A. glaucus, Aspergillus niger and Penicillium spp infected wheat kernels and early detection of biotic stresses caused by fungal species belonging to the genus Alternaria, a pathogen of oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.) (Baranowski et al., 2015). The objective of this study was to determine the efficiency of visible and near infrared hyperspectral imaging technique to early detection of fungal infection caused by Botrytis cinerea and Colletotrichum acutatum in strawberry fruits.