Hyperspectral transmittance imaging of the shell-free cooked clam Mulinia edulis for parasite detection

•Relative optical transmittance of a clam and a parasite were disclosed in range 600–950 nm.•Relative change in optical transmittance is a key feature for devising automated parasite detectors.•Over 720 nm the parasite presence in a clam can be easily distinguished.•If a parasite is present clam’s mantle transmittance falls heavily.•Parasite detectors with accuracy above 85% were developed.

The clam Mulinia edulis is occasionally infected by the parasite Edotea magellanica. In this paper the normalized optical transmittance of the clam and its parasite have been disclosed for the first time using a hyperspectral imaging system. It has been identified that, in the spectral band of 600–950 nm, the normalized optical transmittance of clam’s mantle cavity changes in the presence or absence of the parasite. This relative change in the normalized optical transmittance has been used as an effective spectral feature for designing parasite detectors. As a proof of concept two detectors have been designed. The first detector, which relies on all the hyperspectral information, achieved a perfect detection accuracy in identifying parasite-infected clams. The second detector, which is based on a reduced number of hyperspectral bands, achieved an 85% detection accuracy. These results provide insights on the fundamental trade-off between detection accuracy and the amount of hyperspectral information for parasite detection in clams.