OPTICAL CHLOROPHYLL SENSING SYSTEM FOR BANANA RIPENING

An optical chlorophyll sensing system was developed to detect the chlo rophyll content of bananas as the fruit ripens. This system shows a hi gh correlation to other peel colour analysis methods (spectral analysi s, tristimulus colorimeter analysis, and visual colour matching). Regr ession equations were developed to predict the chlorophyll content of banana peels, which is primarily responsible for the change in the col our of the peel. This optical chlorophyll sensing system has the follo wing characteristics: rapid response, simple operation, non-destructiv e measurement, and low cost. The potential application of this system in automatic monitoring of banana ripening is also discussed. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.