Canada produces nearly 5.8 million tonnes of potatoes and Alberta accounts for 21.5% of the total production worth over $900 million. Canadian potatoes generate $1.17 billion in farm cash receipts and have an export value of $1.72 billion. Several quality issues are associated with potato production and storage. Although external defects can be detected visually, not all defects are readily visible. Internal defects such as blackspot, blackheart, heat necrosis, and hollow heart are difficult to detect in intact tubers and are usually found by destructive sampling.
The purpose of the project is to develop near-infrared (NIR) imaging based multispectral on-line system for non-destructive quality testing of potatoes at a commercial scale. Automated and non-destructive analytical tools will help potato processing industries in further improving processing efficiency and end-product quality.
The technology can be also applied for developing on-line sorting of potatoes along with sugar beets and other horticulture products with addition of calibration models.