Fluorescent Spectroscopy Based Sensing for Agricultural Products −Informatization for Supporting Smart Agriculture−

Abstract

Smart Agriculture, where big data is collected by sensors connected through IoT and analyzed by AI, is now spreading worldwide. A critically important technology in this is imaging devices; they can extract morphological and spectroscopic features related to the size, shape and quality of agricultural products. Since fluorescent substances are present in most agricultural products, such as protein, free amino acids, vitamins, and organic compounds (including polyphenols, flavonoids and chlorophyll), which have distinctive excitation and emission wavelengths, fluorescent imaging features can act to identify and quantify slight skin injuries, quality characteristics, growth stage, condition, chemical residues, and foreign materials in agricultural, livestock and aquacultural products. To further propel this smart agriculture based on this precise and detailed information, optical systems for fluorescent imaging need to be developed with a detailed understanding of the fluorescent properties of agricultural products as it passes through the production/ supply chain.