Imaging spectroscopy has emerged as a reliable analytical method for effectively characterizing and quantifying quality attributes of agricultural products. By providing spectral information relevant to food quality properties, imaging spectroscopy has been demonstrated to be a potential method for rapid and non-destructive classification, authentication, and prediction of quality parameters of various categories of tubers, including potato and sweet potato. The imaging technique has demonstrated great capacities for gaining rapid information about tuber physical properties (such as texture, water binding capacity, and specific gravity), chemical components (such as protein, starch, and total anthocyanin), varietal authentication, and defect aspects. This paper emphasizes how recent developments in spectral imaging with machine learning have enhanced overall capabilities to evaluate tubers. The machine learning algorithms coupled with feature variable identification approaches have obtained acceptable results. This review briefly introduces imaging spectroscopy and machine learning, then provides examples and discussions of these techniques in tuber quality determinations, and presents the challenges and future prospects of the technology. This review will be of great significance to the study of tubers using spectral imaging technology.
Keywords: food quality; imaging spectroscopy; intelligent detection; machine learning; potato.