REVIEW OF INSPECTION TECHNIQUES BASED ON THE ELASTIC AND INELASTIC-SCATTERING OF X-RAYS AND THEIR POTENTIAL IN THE FOOD AND AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRY

X-rays that are elastically or inelastically scattered from a sample p rovide valuable information about the internal characteristics of a sa mple such as the molecular structure, density and atomic number Also s ince the field of view of the source and detector can be defined, by s electing the incident and scatter angle it is possible to examine the properties of a small volume element of the sample, rather than the in tegrated information more commonly obtained from a transmission image. This paper reviews the current status of inspection techniques that a re based on the scattering characteristics of X-ray photons by a mater ial and the applications to which these techniques have been applied. The opportunities of these methods within the agricultural and food in dustry are then discussed and specific areas for future research and d evelopment are suggested. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Limited.