Short wave infrared (SWIR) hyperspectral imaging technique for examination of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) on corn kernels

Aflatoxins are toxic metabolites produced by the fungi Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus. They can contaminate a wide range of crops before harvest and during storage. Contaminated grains are associated with economic losses for cultivators as well as potential health hazards to both humans and animals. In this study, a short-wave infrared (SWIR) hyperspectral imaging technique was utilized to detect aflatoxin contamination on corn kernels. Corn samples were inoculated with four different aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) concentrations (10, 100, 500 and 1000 μg/kg) while control samples were surface-disinfected with a PBS solution. Both infected and control samples were scanned with an SWIR hyperspectral system over the spectral range of 1100–1700 nm. A partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) model was developed to categorize control and infected kernels and the highest overall classification accuracy yielded from the developed model was 96.9%. Spectral deviation was observed between the control and inoculated samples as the AFB1 concentrations increased. In addition, the contamination map generated with the PLS-DA model provided the visual appearance of infected samples. Our results suggest that SWIR hyperspectral imaging is a rapid, accurate, and non-destructive technique for the detection of toxic metabolites in grains and could be an alternative to manual techniques.