Objectives: The overall objective of the project was to develop a novel light-based sensing technique to assess internal quality (firmness and sugar content or soluble solids content) of apples. Specific objectives were to: 1. Investigate a new sensing method, using hyperspectral and multispectral imaging, for quantifying the absorption and scattering properties of apple fruit; 2. Develop mathe...

Hydrocolloid-based materials have been extensively used to coat fruit and vegetables to prolong shelf-life. The effects of different concentrations of acidic washing (acetic, ascorbic, citric and malic acids) followed by coating with gum arabic (GA), carboxymethyl cellulose and emulsified gum arabic (EGA) were evaluated on the weight loss (WL), firmness and color of mushroom. The WL of the unco...

The objectives of this experiment were to characterize longissimus muscle color, texture, and firmness for beef carcasses of diverse biological types and to determine the genetic parameters of lean color, texture, and firmness. The carcasses (n = 3,641) used in this experiment were from steers produced by mating Angus, Brahman, Braunvieh, Charolais, Chianina, Galloway, Gelbvieh, Hereford, Jerse...

Firmness and soluble solids content (SSC) are important quality attributes for apples and many other fresh fruits. This research investigated the feasibility of using multispectral imaging to quantify light backscattering profiles from apple fruit for predicting firmness and SSC. Spectral images of the backscattering of light at the fruit surface, which were generated from a focused broadband b...

Studies have been carried out to determine the chemical (soluble solid content) and physical (firmness) parameters of locally grown Cavendish banana by near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy. NIR spectra in the wavelength region of 680-2500 nm were obtained from a total of 408 Cavendish bananas of different ripeness indices. Chemometrics using multiple linear regression (MLR) was applied to develop c...

The objective of this research was to use a Rapid Visco Analyzer to study the effect of natural cheese age, trisodium citrate (TSC) concentration, and mixing speed on process cheese food (PCF) functionality. In this study 3 replicates of natural cheese were manufactured, and a portion of each cheese was subjected to 6 different PCF manufacturing treatments at 2, 4, 6, 12, and 18 wk of ripening....

Texture of salmon fillets is an important quality trait for consumer acceptance as well as for the suitability for processing. In the present work we measured fillet firmness in a population of farmed Atlantic salmon with known pedigree and investigated the relationship between this trait and gene expression. Transcriptomic analyses performed with a 21 K oligonucleotide microarray revealed stro...

Firmness is an important fruit quality trait in northern highbush blueberry ( Vaccinium corymbosum ). Many researchers, growers, and packers rely on machines for measuring firmness right after harvest during postharvest cold storage of fresh fruit. In this study, we compared two that use compression measurements to determine a force-deformation value. The first firmness-testing machine has been...

The laser air-puff method was investigated for non-destructive firmness measurements on kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa (A. Chev.) C.F. Liang et A.R. Ferguson cv. Hayward) and apricot (Prunus armeniaca L. cv. CluthaGold). The method involves delivering a sharp puff of air onto a stationary fruit whilst recording the resulting surface deformation with a laser displacement sensor. At a 65-kPa maxi...

Plots of 19 clones of strawberry (Fragaria ×ananassa Duch.) were planted in 1996. Fruit of 16 clones were harvested in 1997 and fruit of 11 of the same clones plus three additional clones in 1998. Individual plots were harvested on three or four dates in 1997 and from three to seven dates in 1998. Fruit firmness was determined with a penetrometer at harvest, and additional samples were processe...