Deep Learning-Enhanced Spectroscopic Technologies for Food Quality Assessment: Convergence and Emerging Frontiers

Nowadays, the development of the food industry and economic recovery have driven escalating consumer demands for high-quality, nutritious, and safe food products, and spectroscopic technologies are increasingly prominent as essential tools for food quality inspection. Concurrently, the rapid rise of artificial intelligence (AI) has created new opportunities for food quality detection. As a critical branch of AI, deep learning synergizes with spectroscopic technologies to enhance spectral data processing accuracy, enable real-time decision making, and address challenges from complex matrices and spectral noise. This review summarizes six cutting-edge nondestructive spectroscopic and imaging technologies, near-infrared/mid-infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy, hyperspectral imaging (spanning the UV, visible, and NIR regions, to simultaneously capture both spatial distribution and spectral signatures of sample constituents), terahertz spectroscopy, and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), along with their transformative applications. We systematically elucidate the fundamental principles and distinctive merits of each technological approach, with a particular focus on their deep learning-based integration with spectral fusion techniques and hybrid spectral-heterogeneous fusion methodologies. Our analysis reveals that the synergy between spectroscopic technologies and deep learning demonstrates unparalleled superiority in speed, precision, and non-invasiveness. Future research should prioritize three directions: multimodal integration of spectroscopic technologies, edge computing in portable devices, and AI-driven applications, ultimately establishing a high-precision and sustainable food quality inspection system spanning from production to consumption.