Lethbridge College researchers studying ways to simplify potato quality testing

Aug 12, 2022 | 6:15 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – A research project out of Lethbridge College strives to simplify the way potato quality is tested. Currently, the best way to find out if a potato is good enough to go to market is to cut it open and look to see if it has any defects. Officials say that’s a process that takes time and is destructive.

The work out of Lethbridge College aims to use cutting-edge near-infrared (NIR) hyperspectral imaging technology to test potato quality more quickly and in a way that does not destroy good product. The major quality issues that plague potatoes are internal defects, greening, specific gravity (a measurement of the solids or starch content relative to the amount of water contained in a potato) and sugar content.

Dr. Chandra Singh, Senior Research Chair in Agricultural Engineering and Technology at Lethbridge College, is leading the three-year, $523,300 project. It includes more than $400,000 in funding from Results Driven Agriculture Research (RDAR) and Alberta Innovates.

Singh said the cost for the technology used in the project has gone down, so, “We are at a point where this technology can be implemented on a large-scale.”

The college had previously acquired the technology being used for the project through a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada grant in 2021.

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The project will identify the most significant wavelengths needed to detect the quality parameters associated with potatoes. Additionally, it will test the NIR hyperspectral imagine system at speeds simulating commercial scanning speed and will eventually design a prototype for commercial application of the system based on testing and analysis.

Singh stated, “The companies I am working with want to commercialize this technology and are ready to go if this project is successful.”

“That is what we want to see – the research outcomes benefitting the end users, so we look forward to using this technology to help the potato industry in the near future,” he said.

The research project also includes a collaboration with University of Lethbridge Research Scientist Dr. Michelle Konschuh and in-kind contributions from Lamb Weston, Old Dutch Foods and the Edmonton Potato Growers.

More about the project, which is titled ‘Non-Destructive Quality Testing of Potatoes using NIR Hyperspectral Imaging and Machine Learning’ is available at the RDAR website.

by Justin Goulet