Grant: Research Tools and Instruments

Producers, processors and ultimately Canadian consumers stand to benefit from the development of automated, non-destructive, rapid, high-throughput and accurate techniques for on-line inspection of food quality and safety in the food production industry. Continuous process monitoring would enable a producer to maximize the value and minimize the waste when it comes to utilization of raw materials and assurance of production quality; hence, offering consumers with a product of greater nutritional value at a lower cost. High-capacity process monitoring requires non-contact optical techniques, which uses digital imaging and molecular spectroscopy. The applicant's NSERC Discovery Grant, Collaborative Research and Development Grant, and Engage Grant research programs focus on the application of these methodologies for the inspection of food quality and safety. This proposal therefore aims to request for funds to acquire a hyperspectral imaging platform to be used by a team of UBC research groups in Food Science, Chemistry, and Chemical Biological Engineering. This research project in particular will apply spectrochemical and 2D optical image processing to develop a reliable and objective inspection system capable of monitoring food quality and safety in a rapid and non-destructive manner. Availability of such a hyperspectral imaging system will minimize reliance on human inspection of food quality and safety during food production and delivery and establish food external and compositional attributes. Overall, the combination of spectral and imaging information will enable an efficient new mean for the reliable on-line inspection of the quality and safety of fruit and meat. It is expected that the research using the hyperspectral imaging system will provide sufficient information on the normal and abnormal variance in the composition of bulk commodity food items. Furthermore, research in the classification of spectral and morphological materials will provide unique opportunities to train highly qualified personnel in Canada to become leaders with expertise in the application of spectroscopic-based instrumental technologies, both as research tools, and as a mean to complement traditional methods for the determination of food quality and safety.