Light predicts the shelf life of strawberries
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How could this non-intrusive method help to cut fresh food waste?
Spotted: According to the UN, households around the world waste the equivalent of one billion meals every day, even as millions across the globe face hunger. Food waste across the whole value chain happens for various reasons – cosmetic standards, quality concerns, and economic factors, to name a few. Now, the HIBRO group at the University of Córdoba has developed a new way to help cut the waste of fresh food.
To do this, the researchers – Laura Rabasco, Francisco Jiménez, Arícia Possas, and Fernando Pérez – combined different cutting-edge technologies to predict the shelf life of strawberries in real time, without causing any damage to the fruit. In practice, this could help supermarkets decide what produce to display and when, and deploy dynamic pricing to reduce the cost of fruit that will expire sooner.
To develop this method, researchers used a portable device called a spectrophotometer, which measures light reflections in both visible and infrared spectrums. They tested the quality of fresh strawberries, looking at colour, firmness, weight loss, appearance, and microbial health, every three days while storing them at different temperatures. Using this data, they created mathematical models to predict a strawberry’s shelf life.
This innovative technology has been trialled in Turkey’s largest fresh food retailer as part of a project to reduce food waste using digital solutions.
Written By: Georgia King