Light Scattering Technology for Food Property, Quality and Safety Assessment

Renfu Lu is a supervisory research agricultural engineer and research leader of the Sugarbeet and Bean Research Unit within the USDA/ARS in East Lansing, Michigan. He also holds an adjunct professor appointment with the Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering at Michigan State University. Dr. Lu earned his PhD and MS degrees in agricultural engineering from Pennsylvania State University and Cornell University, respectively, and his BS degree in engineering from Zhejiang Agricultural University (now Zhejiang University) in China. His research has been documented in more than 220 publications, including 95 refereed journal articles, and 16 book chapters.

Recently, considerable research activities have been reported on the development and application of various light scattering technologies for assessing structural, rheological and sensory properties, quality attributes, and safety of a wide range of food and agricultural products. This book is the first to provide readers with an overview of the principles and theory of light transfer in food and biological materials. It also includes a comprehensive review of the latest advances in light scattering technology in food and agricultural applications.

Introduction to Light and Optical Theories. Overview of Light Interaction with Food and Biological Materials. Theory of Light Transfer in Food and Biological Materials. Monte Carlo Modeling of Light Transfer in Food. Parameter Estimation Methods for Determining Optical Properties of Foods. Basic Techniques for Measuring Optical Absorption and Scattering Properties of Food. Spatially-Resolved Spectroscopic Technique for Measuring Optical Properties of Food. Time-Resolved Technique for Measuring Optical Properties and Quality of Food. Spectral Scattering for Assessing the Quality of Fruits and Vegetables. Light Propagation in Meat and Meat Analog: Theory and Applications. Spectral Scattering for Assessing Quality and Safety of Meat. Light Scattering Applications in Milk and Dairy Processing. Dynamic Light Scattering for Measuring Microstructure and Rheological Properties of Food. Biospeckle Technique for Assessing Quality of Fruits and Vegetables. Raman Scattering for Food Quality and Safety Assessment. Light Scattering-Based Detection of Food Pathogens.