Project

X-Fruit: Internal Quality Assessment of Fruit with AI-Enhanced X-ray Technology

Aiming to apply or improve assessment of internal quality of fruit & vegetables in your agri-food or tech-business and learn from experiences of other companies? Wageningen Food and Biobased Research is starting a consortium on this topic.

Increasingly, new sensors are being used in machine vision applications for non-destructive internal quality assessment of fruit & vegetables. Recent advancements in (affordable) X-ray hardware, coupled with artificial intelligence (AI), present new opportunities for affordable, safe and reliable X-Ray systems for such applications.

The assessment of internal fruit quality is a crucial aspect in the fresh food chain to ensure consumer satisfaction, reduce food waste, and select the appropriate distribution channels. Studies described in the literature employ non-destructive techniques, such as X-ray, CT, MRI, and ultrasound, which have proven to provide valuable information about the internal characteristics of fruit. However, these methods are not widely adopted or are only used to a limited extent in practice. Current methods for assessing internal fruit quality often rely on destructive techniques.

We believe that recent advancements in (affordable) X-ray hardware (source and detector), coupled with artificial intelligence (AI), present opportunities to explore whether an affordable, safe, and reliable X-ray system can be developed for measuring internal quality characteristics of fruit & vegetables.

Project approach

Wageningen Food & Biobased Research recently acquired an affordable, portable, low-dose X-ray source and detector and conducted preliminary experiments. Several examples, in conjunction with X-ray images from the literature, have recently been listed by our institute. In this project, we aim to:

  • Replicate a select number of studies using our KA6 X-ray source to confirm that internal quality attributes can indeed be measured.
  • Identify potential applications of this technology within the fresh chain. We will
    • evaluate business viability, considering factors such as cost, safety, food waste, batch or single fruit processing
    • explore which systems are suitable depending on the use case, including an in-line sorting system with conveyor belt or a portable box for small batches of fruit.
  • Development of first X-ray prototype and transitioning from prototype to an industrial level. We will outline a blueprint detailing the envisioned future system and the necessary steps to achieve this.

Invitation to collaborate

This consortium is open for participation from companies active in agri-, horti- and food industry (specializing in fruit & vegetables) ranging from seed companies, growers & traders, food-processors or companies engaged in product-quality inspection or supply of technical equipment to these companies. In return for in-cash and in-kind contributions to the project, partners can specify desired topics for research, and provide direction to the research activities. Unfortunately we are not able to reply to solicitations from research institutes or enquiries from students related to this project.

Deadline for the call: 1 July 2024.