Application of low-field MRI for quality assessment of ‘Conference’ pears stored under controlled atmosphere conditions

•A new low field MRI protocol for internal disorder evaluation in pears is proposed.•The segmentation technique to T1-weighted MR images is used.•The dynamics of the induced changes within the fruit tissue is investigated.

A novel, non-destructive, and cost-effective method to evaluate internal disorders occurring in ‘Conference’ pears stored under controlled atmosphere (CA) is described. A low-field Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) system operating at 0.2 T was used to determine water content in the fruit, and to distinguish damaged and healthy tissues by exploiting the differences of their relaxation times. The extent of damage was evaluated quantitatively by applying a proper segmentation technique to the T1-weighted images, followed by separate calculation of the volumes of browning tissue and internal voids. The dynamics of the induced changes within the microstructure of the fruit as a function of the CA storage time was analyzed by repeating the measurements periodically during a six-month storage.