Application of Machine Vision in Modeling of Grape Drying Process

A method based on Machine Vision System (MVS) is hereby employed to evaluate grape drying through an assessment of the fruit’s shrinkage and quality during the dehydration. Experimental data as well as captured images are obtained at an air velocity of 1.4 m s-1 and different drying temperatures (50, 60, 70ºC). The results indicated the effect of temperature on the moisture content, shrinkage and color changes. The moisture content along with color changes (ΔE) were modeled and linear regressions applied to correlate the fruit’s shrinkage as well as color features to the moisture content. The results obtained, displayed that there existed good linear relationships between the fruit’s moisture content, and shrinkage as well as color. The results also revealed that the moisture content vs. quality of the grape could be online evaluated through machine vision during the drying process.