Electromagnetic imaging and infrared spectroscopy for quality monitoring and preservation of cereal grains

加拿大每年的粮食产值约为60亿美元，其中70%用于出口。据估计，收获的作物中有2%（价值1.2亿美元）在处理和储存过程中被浪费。大多数买家都规定了严格的质量要求以及对污染物的零容忍。目前的粮食分级方法主要依靠人工检验，耗时长，主观，需要训练有素的人员。因此，需要替代的快速、客观、准确和成本有效的技术来实时监测粮食质量，以潜在地辅助或取代人工检测。谷物的质量在储存期间也会恶化，在加拿大储存的时间从几个月到一年多不等。在过去的几十年里，随着农村升降机的消失，越来越多的粮食被长期储存在农场里。这导致了难以监控的更大的垃圾箱。在这些大箱子的电缆上悬挂温度和湿度传感器有许多实际的限制。因此，非常需要一种非侵入性的方法来监测储存在仓中的粮食的质量。

The value of Canada’s annual grain crop is about $6 billion and 70% of the produced grains are exported. It is estimated that 2% of the harvested crop (worth $120 million) gets wasted during handling and storage. Most buyers specify stringent quality requirements as well as zero-tolerance for contaminants. The current method of grading grain relies heavily on manual inspection, which is time consuming, subjective and requires trained personnel. Therefore, alternative rapid, objective, accurate, and cost effective techniques are needed for grain quality monitoring in real-time that can potentially assist or replace manual inspection. The quality of grain also deteriorates during storage, which could be anywhere from a few months to over a year in Canada. With the disappearance of country elevators over the last few decades, more grain is being stored on-farm for longer periods. This has led to larger-sized bins that are difficult to monitor. Hanging temperature and moisture sensors on cables in these large bins poses many practical limitations. Thus, a non-invasive method of monitoring quality of grain stored in bins is highly desirable.