Abstract There has been increased interest in the implementation of near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) as a non-destructive analytical technique to monitor the quality and safety of vegetables during their growing season and after harvest, throughout the food supply chain. The aim of this work was to evaluate the feasibility of using a portable NIR spectrophotometer (the MicroNIR™ Pro 1700 (spectral range 908–1676 nm) working in reflectance mode) based on Linear Variable Filter (LVF) technology to analyse soluble solid content (SSC) and nitrate content in spinach plants in situ, in the field and along the supply chain. A total of 77 spinach plants were analysed at three control points of the supply chain: 1) in the field, during the growing season and after harvest, 2) in the lab, simulating conditions at receipt at the processing industry and 3) on the leaves in the lab, after washing, thus simulating the analysis of the processed product ready to be packaged, as a previous step for the novel application of NIRS at delivery points and in the supermarkets. The results confirmed the feasibility of using this spectrophotometer throughout the supply chain to establish product quality and safety, which would allow to make real-time decisions related to the agricultural practices, optimum harvest time, industrial uses and commercial shelf-life. The comparison between the models developed for the NIRS analysis in the three control points studied indicated that the recommended procedure would be to take a single spectrum per plant as a suitable way of predicting quality and safety parameters in the field and at the reception points in the industry. Two spectra on each of the two leaves should be taken after the washing operation in the industry, with values of the standard error of cross validation of 1.0 % for SSC and 766 mg kg−1 for nitrate content.

中文翻译：

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沿供应链使用便携式 NIRS 传感器对菠菜植物的可溶性固体和硝酸盐含量进行综合评估

摘要 近红外光谱 (NIRS) 作为一种无损分析技术在整个食品供应链中用于监测蔬菜在生长季节和收获后的质量和安全，越来越受到关注。这项工作的目的是评估使用基于线性可变滤波器 (LVF) 技术的便携式 NIR 分光光度计（MicroNIR™ Pro 1700（光谱范围 908–1676 nm）在反射模式下工作）分析可溶性固体含量的可行性（ SSC) 和原位、田间和供应链沿线菠菜植株的硝酸盐含量。在供应链的三个控制点共分析了 77 株菠菜：1) 在田间、生长季节和收获后，2) 在实验室，模拟加工业收货时的条件和 3) 在实验室的叶子上，洗涤后，从而模拟对准备包装的加工产品的分析，作为 NIRS 在交付点和在新的应用中的前一步超级市场。结果证实了在整个供应链中使用该分光光度计来建立产品质量和安全性的可行性，这将允许做出与农业实践、最佳收获时间、工业用途和商业保质期相关的实时决策。在研究的三个控制点中为 NIRS 分析开发的模型之间的比较表明，推荐的程序是将每个植物的单一光谱作为预测现场和接收点的质量和安全参数的合适方法。行业。在工业洗涤操作后，应在两片叶子中的每一片上获取两个光谱，SSC 的交叉验证标准误差值为 1.0 %，硝酸盐含量为 766 mg kg-1。