Maturity Prediction in Yellow Peach (Prunus persica L.) Cultivars Using a Fluorescence Spectrometer
1
Agriculture Victoria, Tatura, VIC 3616, Australia
2
Food Agility CRC Ltd., Ultimo, NSW 2007, Australia
3
Rubens Technologies Pty Ltd., Rowville, VIC 3178, Australia
4
Instruments & Data Tools Pty Ltd., Rowville, VIC 3178, Australia
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Sensors 2020, 20(22), 6555; https://doi.org/10.3390/s20226555
Received: 14 October 2020
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Revised: 8 November 2020
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Accepted: 15 November 2020
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Published: 17 November 2020
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biennial State-of-the-Art Sensors Technology in Australia 2019-2020)
Technology for rapid, non-invasive and accurate determination of fruit maturity is increasingly sought after in horticultural industries. This study investigated the ability to predict fruit maturity of yellow peach cultivars using a prototype non-destructive fluorescence spectrometer. Collected spectra were analysed to predict flesh firmness (FF), soluble solids concentration (SSC), index of absorbance difference (IAD), skin and flesh colour attributes (i.e., a* and H°) and maturity classes (immature, harvest-ready and mature) in four yellow peach cultivars—‘August Flame’, ‘O’Henry’, ‘Redhaven’ and ‘September Sun’. The cultivars provided a diverse range of maturity indices. The fluorescence spectrometer consistently predicted IAD and skin colour in all the cultivars under study with high accuracy (Lin’s concordance correlation coefficient > 0.85), whereas flesh colour’s estimation was always accurate apart from ‘Redhaven’. Except for ‘September Sun’, good prediction of FF and SSC was observed. Fruit maturity classes were reliably predicted with a high likelihood (F1-score = 0.85) when samples from the four cultivars were pooled together. Further studies are needed to assess the performance of the fluorescence spectrometer on other fruit crops. Work is underway to develop a handheld version of the fluorescence spectrometer to improve the utility and adoption by fruit growers, packhouses and supply chain managers.
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Keywords:
flesh colour; flesh firmness; index of absorbance difference (IAD); machine learning; non-destructive measurements; pigments; sensor; ripeness; skin colour; soluble solids
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MDPI and ACS Style
Scalisi, A.; Pelliccia, D.; O’Connell, M.G. Maturity Prediction in Yellow Peach (Prunus persica L.) Cultivars Using a Fluorescence Spectrometer. Sensors 2020, 20, 6555. https://doi.org/10.3390/s20226555
AMA Style
Scalisi A, Pelliccia D, O’Connell MG. Maturity Prediction in Yellow Peach (Prunus persica L.) Cultivars Using a Fluorescence Spectrometer. Sensors. 2020; 20(22):6555. https://doi.org/10.3390/s20226555
Chicago/Turabian StyleScalisi, Alessio, Daniele Pelliccia, and Mark G. O’Connell. 2020. "Maturity Prediction in Yellow Peach (Prunus persica L.) Cultivars Using a Fluorescence Spectrometer" Sensors 20, no. 22: 6555. https://doi.org/10.3390/s20226555
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