Hyperspectral imaging technology for rapid detection of various microbial contaminants in agricultural and food products

• Applications of hyperspectral imaging for microbial evaluation of AFP are reviewed.
• Various microbial contaminants present in AFP are provided.
• Disadvantages of hyperspectral imaging for microbial evaluation are reviewed.
• Future trend of hyperspectral imaging for microbial evaluation are proposed.

BackgroundMost contamination in agricultural and food products (AFP) is caused by undesirable microorganisms and how to detect microbial contaminants in a rapid and reliable way has always been a topic of great interest for researchers. By integrating traditional spectroscopy and digital imaging function into one system, hyperspectral imaging simultaneously providing spectral and spatial information is proposed and could be used as a smart and promising technology for microbial evaluation in AFP.Scope and approachIn this review, we summarized the recent progresses and applications of hyperspectral imaging in replacing conventional time-consuming, tedious, labor-intensive and destructive techniques by providing a rapid, real-time, non-destructive and efficient alternative for detecting various microbial contaminants in raw and processed AFP. The great potential and importance of hyperspectral imaging is emphasized and approved with its satisfactory performance in microbial evaluation of various AFP.Key findings and conclusionsAlthough hyperspectral imaging shows some obvious advantages, it still faces challenges in terms of accurate reference value measurement, fast data mining and advanced system development. With the further research and development of optics, it would be expected that efficient multispectral imaging systems would likely be developed and applied for online microbial evaluation in agricultural and food industry.