Smart Technologies for Agricultural Product Processing and Quality Detection
A Special Issue of AgriEngineering (ISSN 2624-7402) belonging to the section "Pre and Post-Harvest Engineering in Agriculture".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 10 April 2027 | Viewed by 368
Editors
Interests: physiology of ripening and senescence; post-harvest storage of fruits and vegetables; light quantity and quality modulation; soilless cultivation; hydroponics; IoT for agri-industry
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: hyperspectral; raman; quality detection; phenotyping; data science
Interests: postharvest biology and technology; physiology of ripening and senescence; functional genomics and breeding for fruit quality; bioactive compounds; fruit quality and safety
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The agricultural sector is undergoing a profound digital transformation, from traditional practices towards Agriculture 4.0 and 5.0. This transition is not merely confined to field-based production; it is also redefining the processing and quality monitoring of production. Within this new digital ecosystem, the integration of smart technologies—such as computer vision, high-precision sensors, and the Internet of Things (IoT)— enables full traceability and the non-destructive evaluation of physicochemical parameters in real-time. While the current literature is often polarized—focusing either on Precision Agriculture (field-based sensors/robotics) or Food Chemistry (laboratory-based quality analysis)—there is a significant need for research that merges these domains into Agri-Engineering.
The main focus of this Special Issue is on how to use technologies from Industry 4.0 and 5.0 at a key point in the supply chain: the processing and quality detection stage. We will also focus on how these technologies can be used to transform agricultural products into high-quality consumer goods.
The scope of this Special Issue encompasses the entire technological spectrum of the "Processing and Detection" stage, including the following:
- Implementation of smart farming systems (hydroponics, soilless cultivation frameworks and, or precision fertigation protocols) to modulate plant metabolism and to enhance the final product’s organoleptic properties or phytochemical content.
- Non-Destructive Detection (NDD): Development of high-throughput sensors (NIR, Mid-infrared, Raman, hyperspectral imaging, electronic noses and tongues) for the real-time monitoring of internal quality (sugar, acidity, bioactive compounds) and external defects.
- Intelligent Processing Systems: Automation and robotics in agricultural product processing (sorting, cleaning, cutting, and packaging), specifically for IV-Range/fresh-cut products.
- Application of IoT and machine learning models for quality management, shelf-life prediction, and metabolic status monitoring under modified atmospheres.
- Smart Packaging Engineering: Integration of active sensors and indicators within packaging to track product quality throughout the logistics chain.
The purpose of this Special Issue is to provide a multidisciplinary platform for engineers, food technologists, and data scientists to present solutions in real-time applications, emphasizing in-line or non-invasive technologies that are applicable in industrial processing lines.
By highlighting "Smart Technologies", this Special Issue aims to compile cutting-edge research that bridges the gap between agricultural engineering, digital transformation, and post-harvest technology, showing how "smart" interventions at one stage optimize the outcomes of the next.
Dr. Huertas María Díaz-Mula
Dr. Salvador Castillo-Gironés
Dr. María Nicolás-Almansa
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. AgriEngineering is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- smart agriculture (or Agriculture 4.0)
- non-destructive sensing (NDS)
- postharvest engineering
- computer vision & hyperspectral imaging
- quality detection algorithms
- food processing automation
- internet of things (IoT) in food supply
- artificial intelligence (AI) for quality control
- shelf-life prediction models
- sustainable packaging technologies
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