Physical and Biological Properties of Agricultural Products

Book excerpt: The demand for agricultural production has been changing from quantitative stability to high qualitative standards. Especially in the first-growing Asian market, people now expect high standards in the quality of agricultural products, not cheap ones cultivated on a large scale any more. In this trend, it is important to maintain the safety and quality of agricultural products, which as organisms are also a challenge to handle as with other industrial products. This book offers comprehensive knowledge and technology to help assure and guarantee the high quality of agricultural products. The book analyzes and reviews product properties from physical and biochemical viewpoints, such as structure, dynamics, sound, electricity, and light. It also includes the design of processing machinery used in post-harvest operations, starting from harvest, preservation, processing, cooking, storage, to transportation and indispensable sorting techniques that include taste, smell, and freshness, notably the sweetness prediction of fruits with near infrared spectroscopy. This research study was developed in Japan, a leading country in the Asian market for high quality agricultural products, and it provides a full range of practical information for producing high quality agricultural products. The book covers comprehensive knowledge and technology applied to quality food preservation, as well as the safety and diversity in food. Contents include: Physical Properties of Agricultural Products * Structural Characteristics Related to Physical Properties * Fundamental Physical Properties * Thermal Properties * Mechanical Properties * Acoustic and Vibrational Properties * Electric Characteristics * Optical Properties * Biochemical Properties.