title: Measurement techniques and application of electrical properties for nondestructive quality evaluation of foods-a review.
abstract: Non-destructive systems are recent trends for quality evaluation of fruits and vegetables. Information on post-harvest variations in electrical properties is needed to develop new instruments for this purpose. Electrical properties are finding increasing application in agriculture and food processing industries. Knowledge of dielectric properties of foods as a function of moisture content and temperature is essential in the design and control of drying systems. As simple, rapid and non-destructive measuring techniques, dielectric spectroscopy provides information about the dielectric response of materials to electromagnetic field. Electrical properties of agricultural materials have been of interest for many years. The interest in dielectric properties of materials has historically been associated with the design of electrical equipment. This review paper covers theoretical aspects of different electrical properties, their measurement techniques, applications of dielectric properties in agriculture/food processing sector and potential applications of thermal imaging (TI) for quality and safety assessment in food processing. The values of dielectric properties of a number of products including food grains, fruits and vegetables, and meat and meat products are presented in table form. This comprehensive coverage will be useful for academic, scientific and industrial community in treating and applying the facts in developing/testing new processes and products based on electromagnetic energy application.
authors.affiliation: Division of Agricultural Structure and Environment Control, Central Institute of Post Harvest Engineering & Technology (CIPHET), CIPHET, Ludhiana, 141004 Punjab India.
authors.forename: Shyam Narayan
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Jha
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Narsaiah
authors.forename: A L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Basediya
authors.forename: Rajiv
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.forename: Pranita
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Jaiswal
authors.forename: Ramesh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.forename: Rishi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bhardwaj
keywords: Dielectric constant; Electrical properties; Food quality evaluation; Loss factor; Measuring techniques; Non-destructive; Thermal imaging technique