Byoung-Kwan Cho

Chungnam National University | CNU · Department of Biosystems Machinery Engineering

Meat adulteration raises religious concerns and economic, quality, and safety issues. Therefore, ensuring that no unnecessary meat is added to the labeled primary meat is important. This study used shortwave hyperspectral imaging (SWIR HSI) working at 895–2504 nm to predict the level of pork adulteration in minced beef and lamb samples. Minced beef...

Egg freshness is a critical factor that influences the egg’s nutritional value, safety, and overall quality; consequently, it is a priority for both producers and consumers. This review examines the factors that affect egg freshness, and it evaluates both traditional and modern methods for assessing egg freshness. Traditional techniques, such as th...

Potatoes are a staple food crop consumed worldwide, with their significance extending from household kitchens to large-scale food processing industries. Their market value and quality are often compromised by various internal defects such as pythium, bruising, internal browning, hollow heart, gangrene, blackheart, internal sprouting, and dry rot. T...

This study systematically reviews the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and remote sensing technologies to address the issue of crop water stress caused by rising global temperatures and climate change; in particular, it evaluates the effectiveness of various non-destructive remote sensing platforms (RGB, thermal imaging, and hyperspectra...

This study aimed to develop a low-cost non-destructive plant growth observation system based on 3-dimensional (3D) modeling using the Structure from Motion (SfM) method and apply it to the volume estimation of Chinese cabbage. The system included a camera arm, a stepper motor, a web camera, LED strip lights, and image processing software for genera...

External defects in paprika fruit (Capsicum annuum, L. var. angulosum) directly impact their storage and marketability, potentially leading to internal decay and altering fruit appearance. However, automatically detecting various paprika defects, including cracks, scars, diseases, and bruises, poses a significant challenge due to variations in defe...

In contemporary agriculture, enhancing the efficient production of crops and optimizing resource utilization have become paramount objectives. Garlic growth and quality are influenced by various factors, with fertilizers playing a pivotal role in shaping both aspects. This study aimed to develop classification models for distinguishing garlic ferti...

Fresh-cut vegetables are a food product susceptible to contamination by foreign materials (FMs). To detect a range of potential FMs in fresh-cut vegetables, a dual imaging technique (fluorescence and color imaging) with a simple and effective image processing algorithm in a user-friendly software interface was developed for a real-time inspection s...

Seed standardization is crucial for all seed breeders as it enables differentiation of performance among specific seed varieties. Standardized seed lots outperform impure seed lots in terms of yield and plant population uniformity. Watermelon growers frequently encounter the challenge of uncertain ploidy seed naming, stemming from the mixture of se...

Staple crops, such as potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) and sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam), exhibit sensitivity to both drought and excess moisture stress, requiring continuous management and monitoring. Conventional moisture monitoring relied on moisture sensors; however, the quantity required varied depending on the field's configuration, po...

This study reported an application of Au nanogap substrates for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) measurements to quantitatively analyze melamine and its derivative products at trace levels in pet liquid food (milk) combined with a waveband selection approach, namely variable importance in projection (VIP). Six different concentrations of me...

Red beet (Beta vulgaris) contains betalain, which comprises red-violet betacyanin and yellow betaxanthin with esthetic and health benefits. Betacyanin and betaxanthin are usually detected using common chemical analysis, which requires a long time, skilled analysts, and sample destruction. For fast and accurate measurement, this study utilized a por...

Pineapple is a popular tropical fruit with economic value, and the measurement of its maturity and soluble solids content (SSC) is crucial for quality control and sorting purposes. This study developed a non-destructive and rapid method for internal color-based maturity and SSC in pineapples using online visible and near-infrared spectroscopy (VIS-...

Peach must be delivered to market when at their proper ripeness, as its fruit quality declines quickly after harvest. Therefore, it is necessary to consider suitable ripeness for consumption and distribution. However, research on ripeness judgments for peaches in the orchard is scarce. This study used deep learning technology to develop a ripeness...

Fruits and vegetables have always had a significant economic impact on human survival, providing food security and boosting output with minimal input. This review focuses on an in-depth analysis of the grading criteria and the identification of exterior quality characteristics of major vegetables and fruits through various noninvasive spectroscopic...

The emergence of paraffin-coated rice in China, aimed at enhancing its market appeal and achieving a translucent appearance, has given rise to a significant global food safety concern. This situation poses substantial health risks to consumers. Hyperspectral analysis, recognized as a powerful and nondestructive technique for assessing food quality...

Terpenoids, also referred to as terpenes, are a large family of naturally occurring chemical compounds present in the essential oils extracted from medicinal plants. In this study, a non-destructive methodology was created by combining ATR-FT-IR (attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared), and Raman spectroscopy for the terpenoids ass...

Securing food crops and predicting its productivity are essential for national development and contribute not only to the national economy, but also to global food security. Recent abnormal weather patterns caused by environmental pollution directly and indirectly affect food crop production, leading to increased uncertainty in crop yield predictio...

Edible insects are gaining popularity as a potential future food source because of their high protein content and efficient use of space. Black soldier fly larvae are noteworthy because they can be used as feed for various animals including reptiles, dogs, fish, chickens, and pigs. However, if the edible insect industry is to advance, we should use...

The quality of tropical fruits and vegetables and the expanding global interest in eating healthy foods have resulted in the continual development of reliable, quick, and cost-effective quality assurance methods. The present review discusses the advancement of non-destructive spectral measurements for evaluating the quality of major tropical fruits...

Unlike standard chemical analysis methods involving time-consuming, labor-intensive, and invasive pretreatment procedures, Raman hyperspectral imaging (HSI) can rapidly and non-destructively detect components without professional supervision. Generally, the Kjeldahl methods and Soxhlet extraction are used to chemically determine the protein and lip...

Foreign materials (FMs) in fresh-cut vegetables are a huge concern for the fresh-cut industry since they affect product safety and quality. Therefore, effective methods of detecting FMs in industrial processing operations are urgently required. In this study, three hyperspectral imaging (HSI) techniques (VNIR, SWIR, and fluorescence) were investiga...

Saffron (Crocus sativus) stigma is a well-known flavoring agent and food coloring and is highly appreciated due to its pharmacological properties (crocin, crocetin, picrocrocin, and safranal) and mainly planted in Europe and Asia. However, the therapeutic properties of saffron can vary depending on the growing condition and species. Therefore, its...

Mosquitoes are one of the deadliest insects, causing harm to humans worldwide. Preemptive prevention and forecasting are important to prevent mosquito-borne diseases. However, current mosquito identification is mostly conducted manually, which consumes time, wastes labor, and causes human error. In this study, we developed an automatic image analys...

This study proposes a deep-learning-based system for detecting and classifying Scirtothrips dorsalis Hood, a highly invasive insect pest that causes significant economic losses to fruit crops worldwide. The system uses yellow sticky traps and a deep learning model to detect the presence of thrips in real time, allowing farmers to take prompt action...

Abstract: Melamine and its derivative, cyanuric acid, are occasionally added to pet meals because of their nitrogen-rich qualities, leading to the development of several health-related issues. A nondestructive sensing technique that offers effective detection must be developed to address this problem. In conjunction with machine learning and deep l...

The size of an air cell in an egg is an important indicator of its freshness and is often used as a grading index. Currently, the Haugh Unit (HU) test is the most common method for evaluating egg freshness; however, it is destructive and time-consuming, and not all eggs can be tested. To overcome these limitations in evaluating egg quality, non-des...

Mercury bromide (Hg2Br2) has been used to develop acousto-optic tunable filters (AOTFs) because it has several advantages, including a high refractive index, a broad optical bandwidth, and a relatively high figure of merit. Therefore, the measurement of its birefringence is a highly important factor for ensuring AOTF quality. However, for single cr...

Conventional spectroscopic methods like IR, and Raman are not very effective at detecting low levels of pesticides or harmful chemicals in food matrices. A quick, highly accurate approach that can identify pesticides present in different food products at lower levels must be developed in order to address this problem and ensure food safety. In this...

The efficiency of photosynthesis in strawberry plants is measured to maintain the quality and quantity of strawberries produced. The latest method used to measure the photosynthetic status of plants is chlorophyll fluorescence imaging (CFI), which has the advantage of obtaining plant spatiotemporal data non-destructively. This study developed a CFI...

Simple Summary This review describes an updated description of robot technology for slaughterhouse automation. The robot technology used in the pork and beef slaughterhouse and details of the visceral laparotomy, carcass preprocessing, and deboning robot technology were introduced. A recent novel slaughter method, meat factory cell (MFC), developed...

Root rot of Panax ginseng caused by Cylindrocarpon destructans, a soil-borne fungus is typically diagnosed by frequently checking the ginseng plants or by evaluating soil pathogens in a farm, which is a time- and cost-intensive process. Because this disease causes huge economic losses to ginseng farmers, it is important to develop reliable and non-...

The key elements that underpin food security require the adaptation of agricultural systems to support productivity increases while minimizing inputs and the adverse effects of climate change. The advances in precision agriculture over the past few years have substantially enhanced the efficiency of applying spatially variable agronomic inputs for...

Increasing food demands, global climatic variations, and population growth have spurred the growth of crop yield driven by plant phenotyping in the age of big data. High-throughput phenotyping of sorghum at each plant and organ level is vital in molecular plant breeding to increase crop yield. LiDAR (light detection and ranging) sensor provides 3D...

Ginseng is a perennial herbaceous plant that has been widely consumed for medicinal and dietary purposes since ancient times. Ginseng plants require shade and cool temperatures for better growth; climate warming and rising heat waves have a negative impact on the plants’ productivity and yield quality. Since South Korea’s temperature is increasing...

Environmental pressures, such as temperature and light intensity, food, and genetic factors, can cause chicken eggs to develop abnormalities. The common types of internal egg abnormalities include bloody and damaged egg yolk. Spectrometers have been recently used in real-time abnormal egg detection research. However, there are very few studies on t...

This study performed non-destructive measurements of phenolic compounds in moringa powder using Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy within a spectral range of 3500–700 cm−1. Three major phenolic compounds, namely, kaempferol, benzoic acid, and rutin, were measured in five different varieties of moringa powder, which was approved with re...

The quality of an egg plays an important role in the general preference and acceptability by consumers. Blood spots are a common internal defect in eggs which normally affect its overall quality. Blood spots in eggs are normally detected using a traditional technique known as candling. However, this technique is time-consuming, less reliable, less...

Strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa Duch) plants are vulnerable to climatic change. The strawberry plants suffer from heat and water stress eventually, and the effects are reflected in the development and yields. In this investigation, potential chlorophyll-fluorescence-based indices were selected to detect the early heat and water stress in strawberry...

The viability status of seeds before sowing is important to farmers as it allows them to make yield predictions. Monitoring the seed quality in a rapid and nondestructive manner may create a perfect solution, especially for industrial sorting applications. However, current offline laboratory-based strategies employed for the monitoring of seed viab...

This study evaluates the near-infrared spectroscopy (NIR) and mid-infrared spectroscopy (MIR) complementary spectral ranges to predict six different quality traits, which include chemical components such as amylose, starch, protein, glucose, cellulose, and moisture contents, in tubers and root flours. The sequential orthogonalized partial least squ...

Protein content is one of the most crucial factors in soybean quality. However, the breeding procedure necessitates the time-consuming and costly selection of elite genotypes from many experimental lines in a destructive manner. The present work aims to predict protein content in single soybean seeds non-destructively using Near-Infrared (NIR) Hype...

Heat stress in particular can damage physiological processes, adaptation, cellular homeostasis, and yield of higher plants. Early detection of heat stress in leafy crops is critical for preventing extensive loss of crop productivity for global food security. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the potential of a snapshot-based visible-near infrared...

Quantifying the phenolic compounds in plants is essential for maintaining the beneficial effects of plants on human health. Existing measurement methods are destructive and/or time consuming. To overcome these issues, research was conducted to develop a non-destructive and rapid measurement of phenolic compounds using hyperspectral imaging (HSI) an...

In this study, fluorescence hyperspectral imaging (FHSI) was used for the rapid, non-destructive detection of fake, manmade eggs from real eggs. To identify fake eggs, protoporphyrin IX (PpIX)-a natural pigment present in real eggshells-was utilized as the main indicator due to its strong fluorescence emission effect. The fluorescence images of rea...

Understanding the physicochemical properties of flour in food preparation is important to determine the appropriate food utilization and processing. Some crops are processed into flour to improve their shelf life and extend their applications in food preparation. This study employed shortwave infrared hyperspectral imaging (SWIR HSI) coupled with m...

This study demonstrates a method to select wavelength-specific spectral resolutions to optimize a line-scan hyperspectral imaging method for its intended use, which in this case was visible/near-infrared imaging-based multiple-waveband detection of apple bruises. Many earlier studies have explored important aspects of developing apple bruise detect...

Recently, there has been increased adoption of automation technologies in production facilities that help to curb mistakes, increase production speed and consistency, and reduce costs. Industrial automation owes its success to the advent of capable computers, smart algorithms, and data availability. In the modern-day slaughterhouse, automation tech...

This study was conducted to confirm the localization possibility of the automated pork carcass grading machines in Korea. This experiment has used a total of 174 carcasses. Image analysis was conducted in three main steps: 1) image preprocessing, 2) feature extraction, 3) regression model build-up. For features extraction and model building, we use...

PurposeThe addition of harmful food additives (melamine, maleic anhydride, and benzoyl peroxide) to powdered foods (milk, starch, and wheat powder, respectively) has been widely recognized as a critical issue because of its negative effects on human health. To quantitatively detect additives in powdered food, a short-wave infrared (SWIR) hyperspect...

Inevitable environmental changes empower the researchers to understand and analyze the plant traits for improving the ecosystem. Solar-induced fluorescence (SIF) is one of the functional traits to analyze the vegetation and assess plant phenotyping. Estimation of SIF through hyperspectral imaging technique gaining its popularity in the recent days...

Fabricated eggs can lead to many severe human health problems due to the consumption of the harmful chemicals used to make them. Therefore, developing technology for detecting fabricated eggs is of high priority in terms of food safety. Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy is widely used for non-destructive detection applications for its...

The increasing interest in plant phenolic compounds in the past few years has become necessary because of their several important physicochemical properties. Thus, their identification through non-destructive methods has become crucial. This study carried out comparative nondestructive measurements of Arabidopsis thaliana leaf powder sample phenoli...

Ginseng is an important medicinal plant in Korea. The roots of the ginseng plant have medicinal properties; thus, it is very important to maintain the quality of ginseng roots. Root rot disease is a major disease that affects the quality of ginseng roots. It is important to predict this disease before it causes severe damage to the plants. Hence, t...