Terahertz Technology: Principles and Applications in the Agri-Food Industry

Terahertz (THz) technology is an active area of research, but only in recent years has the application of THz waves (T waves) in food and agricultural industries been explored. Terahertz Technology: Principles and Applications in the Agri-Food Industry describes the operating principles of THz technology and discusses applications and advantages of the THz regime of the electromagnetic spectrum for use in the agri-food industry. The agri-food industry is focusing on the development of non-destructive quality evaluation techniques that can provide accurate analysis quickly and are environmentally friendly. Among such techniques is THz technology that provides a novel noninvasive approach to quality assessment and safety assurance of agri-food products. The low energy of T waves is best suited for the analysis of sensitive biomaterials and does not cause photoionization. Therefore, THz imaging is complementary to X-ray imaging. Although accessing the THz spectrum is tedious by conventional devices, the combination of optics and electronics principles has opened a dimension of research in this field.

This book provides an overview of THz spectroscopy and imaging, system components, types of THz systems, and applications and advantages of THz for applications in the agri-food industry. It describes the basic working mechanism, operating principle, operation modes, and system components of THz spectroscopy and imaging. Various advancements in THz technology related to agricultural and food applications are discussed that could serve as a guidebook for all those working and interested in non-destructive food assessment techniques.

Key Features:

• Explores broader applications of the THz regime in the agri-food sector
• Describes system components, different forms of THz systems, and the working principle of T waves for spectroscopic and imaging techniques
• Provides insights on future research needs for industrial implementation of THz technology
• Complements the knowledge of other existing non-destructive spectroscopy and imaging techniques for food analysis

Although books on biomedical applications of THz have been published, no book is available that deals with applications in the agri-food industry. Hence, Terahertz Technology is beneficial for undergraduate and graduate students and those food industry professionals involved in research related to non-destructive quality assessment and imaging techniques.

T. Anukiruthika is currently pursuing Ph.D. degree from the Department of Biosystems Engineering, University of Manitoba. Her doctoral dissertation is on determination and prediction of stored products insect movement in one-dimensional grain columns. She completed her undergraduate and postgraduate programs in Food Process Engineering from the National Institute of Food Technology, Entrepreneurship, and Management (NIFTEM) Thanjavur, India. During her graduation studies, worked in diverse emerging areas of Food Science and Technology, Food Process Engineering, and Biosystems Engineering.

Digvir S. Jayas was educated at the G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology in Pantnagar, India; the University of Manitoba; and the University of Saskatchewan. On September 30, 2022, he completed 11.75-year term as Vice-President (Research and International) at the University of Manitoba. Before assuming the position of Vice-President (Research and International), he was Vice-President (Research) for two years, and Associate Vice-President (Research) for eight years. He is a Registered Professional Engineer and a Registered Professional Agrologist.