Application of nondestructive techniques for peach (Prunus persica) quality inspection: A review

Peaches are highly valued for their rich nutritional content. Traditional fruit quality accessing methods (i.e., manual squeezing the fruit for firmness) are both subjective and destructive, which tend to diminish the integrity of fruit samples, consequently undermining their market value. Compared to traditional detection methods, nondestructive technology offers efficient and noninvasive solutions for rapidly and accurately assessing internal external quality of peaches. This can significantly enhance product classification and quality assurance while reducing the need for extensive human resources and minimizing potential physical damage to peaches. This review provided a comprehensive overview of nondestructive techniques for peach quality evaluation, including visible/near-infrared spectroscopy, machine vision technology, hyperspectral imaging, dielectric and optical properties, fluorescence spectroscopy, electronic nose/tongue, and acoustic vibration methods. It also evaluates the effectiveness of each technique in assessing internal quality, maturity, and disease detection of peaches. The advantages and limitations of each method were also summarized. This study focuses specifically on peaches and encompasses all existing nondestructive testing methods, providing valuable insights and references for future studies in the field of peach quality analysis using nondestructive testing methods.