Successful Applications of NIR Spectroscopy and NIR Imaging in the Food Processing Chain

Abstract

Forty years ago, Near InfraRed (NIR) was considered a sleeping technique among the spectroscopic ones. Thanks to the technological advances suffered in recent decades, we can say that NIR is now a consolidated technique, and with rapidly increasing applications. After attracting more attention inside the laboratories, NIR Spectroscopy (NIRS) moved out of them, being used in companies (in-line and on-line process control), various fields (airborne devices and handheld devices), and even space (satellites). Many factors have contributed to this success story, whose end is, we believe, still far from being written. Several of the most important are cited here: the economic accessibility of powerful devices, the technical evolution of the instrumentation, and the acceptance of the use of chemometrics, whose impact in the field on NIRS is absolutely needed due to the chemical and physical features of NIR radiation. Other factors, such as the miniaturization of the instruments and the association with imaging techniques, which occurred with the launch of the 4th industrial revolution and the development of the Industry 4.0 paradigm, have been pivotal.