Optical-based technologies offer significant advantages compared with
conventional methods for detecting mycotoxin and fungal contamination in agricultural
and food commodities, such as rapidness and non-destructiveness. Hyperspectral
imaging (HSI) integrates traditional imaging and spectroscopy technologies and thus
makes it possible for high-throughput screening analysis in an onsite or on-line manner.
Currently, HSI, in tandem with modern chemometrics, has demonstrated interesting
and promising results for the detection of mycotoxin and fungal contamination in
varieties of agricultural products. Therefore, the objective of this chapter is to give an
overview of current research advances of HSI in both fluorescence and reflectance
modes for the evaluation of mycotoxin and fungal contamination in agricultural and
food commodities. Advances of HSI in evaluation of the main mycotoxins, including
aflatoxins, ochratoxins, deoxynivalenol, fumonisins and their related fungal
contaminants, are reviewed, and the results obtained from different studies are
compared and discussed. Perspectives on its future trends and challenges concerning
mycotoxin and fungal evaluation are also addressed.
Keywords: Chemometrics, Fluorescence, Fungus, Hyperspectral imaging,
Mycotoxin, Rapid and nondestructive detection, Reflectance.
