Development of optical technologies for in-field monitoring, characterization and assessment of agricultural products

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The application of optics/photonics technologies in agriculture has advanced in recent years fueled by the interest of farmers and the agri-food industry for access to low-cost, real-time, `in-field' data to inform production decisions/adjustments from planting to harvesting, to storing and transporting, and to processing. The current NSERC application will advance the development of two bio-optical technologies for the agricultural industry. The first technology is based on Raman spectroscopy and will be developed for the detection and characterization of the chemical and biophysical properties of two high value crops in PEI and Canada: Humulus lupulus (common hops) and Cannabis sativa. The technolgies to be developed will provide for the rapid and accurate detection of important biomolecules in hops (alpha- and beta- acids) and in Cannabis (tetrahydrocannabinol - THC and cannabidiol - CBD). The second technology is based on the DNA detection technique, loop mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP), and will be developed for the identification of plant pathogens 'in-the-field' in high value crops in PEI, the first being potatoes. The two bio-optical technologies to be developed will be rugged, 'field-ready', low-cost, and not require advanced training to operate. This research program takes advantage of the unique research and agricultural environments and partnerships at UPEI and in PEI. This research program builds on the applicant's previous published work in developing optical sensors and approaches to detect and monitor the progress of human cancers.