Computer Vision System for Non-Destructive and Contactless Evaluation of Quality Traits in Fresh Rocket Leaves (Diplotaxis Tenuifolia L.)

La tesi di dottorato è incentrata sull'analisi di tecnologie non distruttive per il controllo della qualità dei prodotti agroalimentari, lungo l'intera filiera agroalimentare. In particolare, la tesi riguarda l'applicazione del sistema di visione artificiale per valutare la qualità delle foglie di rucola fresh-cut. La tesi è strutturata in tre parti (introduzione, applicazioni sperimentali e conclusioni) e in cinque capitoli, rispettivamente il primo e il secondo incentrati sulle tecnologie non distruttive e in particolare sui sistemi di computer vision per il monitoraggio della qualità dei prodotti agroalimentari. Il terzo, quarto e quinto capitolo mirano a valutare le foglie di rucola sulla base della stima di parametri qualitativi, considerando diversi aspetti: (i) la variabilità dovuta alle diverse pratiche agricole, (ii) la senescenza dei prodotti confezionati e non, e (iii) lo sviluppo e sfruttamento dei vantaggi di nuovi modelli più semplici rispetto al machine learning utilizzato negli esperimenti precedenti. Il lavoro di ricerca di questa tesi di dottorato è stato svolto dall'Università di Foggia, dall'Istituto di Scienze delle Produzioni Alimentari (ISPA) e dall'Istituto di Tecnologie e Sistemi Industriali Intelligenti per le Manifatture Avanzate (STIIMA) del Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR). L’attività di ricerca è stata condotta nell'ambito del Progetto SUS&LOW (Sustaining Low-impact Practices in Horticulture through Non-destructive Approach to Provide More Information on Fresh Produce History & Quality), finanziato dal MUR-PRIN 2017, e volto a sostenere la qualità della produzione e dell'ambiente utilizzando pratiche agricole a basso input e la valutazione non distruttiva della qualità di prodotti ortofrutticoli.The doctoral thesis focused on the analysis of non-destructive technologies available for the control quality of agri-food products, along the whole supply chain. In particular, the thesis concerns the application of computer vision system to evaluate the quality of fresh rocket leaves. The thesis is structured in three parts (introduction, experimental applications and conclusions) and in 5 chapters, the first and second focused on non-destructive technologies and in particular on computer vision systems for monitoring the quality of agri-food products, respectively. The third, quarter, and fifth chapters aim to assess the rocket leaves based on the estimation of quality aspects, considering different aspects: (i) the variability due to the different agricultural practices, (ii) the senescence of packed and unpacked products, and (iii) development and exploitation of the advantages of new models simpler than the machine learning used in the previous experiments. The research work of this doctoral thesis was carried out by the University of Foggia, the Institute of Science of Food Production (ISPA) and the Institute of Intelligent Industrial Technologies and Systems for Advanced Manufacturing (STIIMA) of National Research Council (CNR). It was conducted within the Project SUS&LOW (Sustaining Low-impact Practices in Horticulture through Non-destructive Approach to Provide More Information on Fresh Produce History & Quality), funded by MUR- PRIN 2017, and aimed at sustaining quality of production and of the environment using low input agricultural practices and non-destructive quality evaluation

OBTENCIÓN DE INGREDIENTES FUNCIONALES PARA LA FORMULACIÓN DE ALIMENTOS ENRIQUECIDOS CON EXTRACTOS VEGETALES. INFLUENCIA DEL TRATAMIENTO DE CONSERVACIÓN SOBRE ALGUNOS COMPUESTOS BIOACTIVOS

Tesis por compendioLa presente tesis doctoral se centra en la obtención de nuevos ingredientes ricos en compuestos bioactivos a partir de tejidos vegetales (caqui y pimiento) sometidos a distintos tratamientos de conservación como las altas presiones hidrostáticas (APH) y la pasteurización, con la finalidad de formular nuevos alimentos funcionales. Se estudió el efecto de un tratamiento específico de APH (200 MPa/6 min/25 ºC) y otro de pasteurización (70 ºC/15min) sobre la estructura y el contenido en algunos compuestos bioactivos del caqui. Tanto las APH como la pasteurización causaron cambios estructurales en el tejido parenquimático, favorecieron la precipitación de taninos y la formación de células tánicas, lo que podría relacionarse con la pérdida de astringencia del fruto. Las APH mejoraron la extractabilidad de compuestos carotenoides y mantuvieron las propiedades antioxidantes del fruto. Esta técnica podría ser una alternativa al tratamiento de pasteurización convencional. Asimismo el caqui tratado por APH podría ser empleado en la formulación de nuevos alimentos funcionales, tales como bebidas lácteas enriquecidas con caqui. Las nuevas bebidas lácteas, con idéntico contenido en carotenoides, se formularon haciendo uso de caqui no tratado, sometido a APH y pasteurizado; y tres matrices lácteas diferentes: leche entera, semi-desnatada y desnatada. Las bebidas elaboradas con caqui tratado por APH presentaron unas adecuadas propiedades reológicas ya que ni gelificaron como las elaboradas con caqui no tratado, ni sedimentaron como las formuladas con caqui pasteurizado. Los consumidores percibieron las nuevas bebidas lácteas enriquecidas con caqui como bebidas altamente antioxidantes. Las que más gustaron fueron las elaboradas con caqui tratado por APH independientemente del tipo de leche utilizada y las elaboradas con caqui no tratado y leche entera. Por tanto, el tratamiento por APH permite formular bebidas lácteas enriquecidas con caqui con alto valor nutricional, variable contenido graso y elevada aceptabilidad independientemente de la estacionalidad del fruto. Por otro lado, se cuantificaron y localizaron algunos compuestos bioactivos y se determinaron algunas propiedades fisicoquímicas en tres tipos de pimiento: rojo, verde y amarillo. El contenido en compuestos bioactivos de cada tipo de pimiento estuvo condicionado por su estructura. El tipo de pimiento más adecuado para obtener extractos ricos en compuestos carotenoides sería el rojo, mientras que el amarillo sería apropiado para obtener extractos ricos en compuestos fenólicos con elevada actividad antioxidante. Por último, si se pretende obtener extractos con elevado contenido en fibra dietética el más adecuado sería el pimiento verde. Se estudió el efecto de diferentes tratamientos de APH (100, 200, 300 y 500 MPa/15 min/25 ºC) y de un tratamiento de pasteurización (70 ºC/10 min) sobre la estructura de pimiento rojo. Además, se determinó el efecto de dichos tratamientos sobre el contenido en algunos compuestos bioactivos y textura. Tanto las APH como la pasteurización provocaron cambios microestructurales, aunque los tratamientos que menos impacto tuvieron fueron las APH a 500 MPa y la pasteurización. Estos tratamientos fueron a su vez los que menos afectaron al contenido en compuestos bioactivos y textura del pimiento rojo. Las APH podrían ser una alternativa a la pasteurización convencional dado que el contenido en compuestos bioactivos y la textura fue similar en ambos casos. Asimismo, podrían desarrollarse nuevos alimentos funcionales mediante el uso de tejido de pimiento rojo sometido a APH a 500 MPa y/o pasteurización. Las modificaciones microestructurales causadas en el tejido de pimiento rojo como consecuencia de la aplicación de APH y pasteurización, provocaron variaciones en los parámetros morfométricos y de textura de la imagen. La dimensión fractal de textura, el contraste, el momento de diferencia inversa y la entropía fueron parámetros de textura apropiados para caracterizar el efecto de las APH y la pasteurización sobre la textura de pimiento rojo. El daño celular causado por los tratamientos de conservación se observó mejor a escalas bajas. Para el desarrollo de las nuevas salsas bechamel enriquecidas con pimiento rojo se emplearon dos tipos de almidón de maíz (nativo y modificado) a dos concentraciones diferentes (4 y 6 g/100 g) y diferentes cantidades de pimiento (0, 5 y 15 g/100 g). Se estudiaron sus propiedades reológicas, microestructura y características sensoriales. El efecto de la incorporación de pimiento sobre las propiedades reológicas dependió del tipo de almidón utilizado. Las salsas presentaron una considerable auto-fluorescencia intrínseca debido al elevado contenido en carotenoides del pimiento. Las salsas que más gustaron a los consumidores fueron las elaboradas con almidón modificado, más cremosas y consistentes. Los consumidores las encontraron beneficiosas para la salud ya que el pimiento rojo proporciona antioxidantes y valor nutricional y mejora el sabor de la salsa. Así, sería posible formular nuevas salsas bechamel, funcionales, cremosas, con alto valor nutricional, elevada aceptabilidad, buenas propiedades reológicas y estabilidad con pimiento y almidón modificado.Hernández Carrión, M. (2014). OBTENCIÓN DE INGREDIENTES FUNCIONALES PARA LA FORMULACIÓN DE ALIMENTOS ENRIQUECIDOS CON EXTRACTOS VEGETALES. INFLUENCIA DEL TRATAMIENTO DE CONSERVACIÓN SOBRE ALGUNOS COMPUESTOS BIOACTIVOS [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/48482TESISCompendi

Understanding the effects of high-pressure, high-temperature processing on the key quality parameters of green beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) with a view to assessing the potential quality benefits of the approach relative to conventional thermal processing.

Studies were conducted to explore whether high pressure (up to 700 MPa) could be used in combination with elevated temperatures (up to 90°C initial temperature) to produce ambient stable green beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) with improved quality compared with conventionally heat processed samples. Colour changes, texture change and chlorophyll retention were explored at a range of pressures, temperatures and times using a surface response methodology. Texture changes were essentially related to temperature effects; higher temperatures resulted in a greater loss in texture. Significant improvements in texture retention were possible using High Pressure Sterilisation (HPS) but sample colour was negatively affected. Colour parameters were predicted primarily by time and pressure so deterioration in green vegetable quality for a commercially sterile products appears inevitable when using HPS. The use of ohmic heating as a pre-heating method greatly reduced cook values (T$_{ref}$ = 100°C, z = 39C°) for colour degradation (down to 0.24, 0.12, 0.35 from 3.02, 2.50, 3.70 minutes for ohmically heating and water bath heated samples respectively) which yielded significant benefits in terms of colour retention of raw materials at the start of the HPS cycle; values of a* and b* for ohmically pre-heated samples were close to that of blanched beans

Effect of processing on quality and shelf life of leafy vegetables

There is a need to sustain quality of ready-to-eat (RTE) leafy vegetables in order to improve shelf life of the products during postharvest storage. The main objective of this thesis was to investigate the effect of compression towards the quality and shelf life of the RTE leafy vegetables. This thesis focused on spinach leaves as the representation of the RTE leafy vegetables. For this purpose, uniaxial compression was chosen as a method to induce damage to the leaves. The effects of compression towards qualities of RTE spinach were evaluated. The quality measures in this study focused on mechanical and microstructural properties, physical appearance, and fresh weight. Organic spinach was found to be the best type in resisting stress compared to Teen, Salad, and Baby spinach. Population test was developed to categorise the compressed leaves into degrees of leaf injuries known as Undamaged, Minor, Halfway, and Complete teared. Force 200N was suggested to be the minimum required to pick up differences of the leaves deteriorations before and after storage. Uncompressed spinach leaves were found to have a shelf life of 14 days. Higher degrees of leaf injuries which are Halfway and Complete teared showed obvious decay since before storage. Sensory test was also conducted to study consumers’ evaluations towards visibility of leaf damage and perceptions in buying the product. Respiration rate of the RTE spinach stored at different films was also measured using a closed system. Michaelis-Menten and exponential models were used to study the respiration rate mechanism

Technological Strategies for the Sustainable Valorisation of Fruit and Vegetable Waste

Fruit and vegetable processing generates huge amounts of waste, which represents a wastage of valuable biomass and is characterised by high management cost and environmental impact. For these reasons, great attention has been dedicated in the last years to fruit and vegetable waste (FVW) valorisation, by its exploitation to produce value-added derivatives. Although it is generally assumed that FVW valorisation would deliver economic and environmental advantages, really few data on cost and energetic requirements of valorisation processes as well as on consumer response towards valorisation products are currently available. Based on these considerations, the aim of the Ph.D. research project \u201cTechnological Strategies for the Sustainable Valorisation of Fruit and Vegetable Waste\u201d was to develop a rational approach to FVW valorisation, useful to guarantee the production of value-added derivatives, but also to assess their technical feasibility, consumer acceptance, economic and environmental impact. The developed rational approach to FVW valorisation consists in four steps: waste characterisation, output definition, process design and feasibility study. This approach was validated on waste deriving from the production of fresh-cut lettuce (external leaves and cores), peach juice (pomace) and soy milk (okara). In particular, the characterisation step highlighted that waste generated during the processing of these vegetables ranges from 10 to 40%. Although the high water content (>76%), these wastes are particularly rich in fibre (>26% on dry weight basis) and polyphenolic compounds (>2.0 GAE/g of dry weight). Based on waste characteristics, different possible outputs were defined and specific processes exploiting the application of either traditional or novel sustainable technologies were designed: (i) convenient functional smoothies were produced from lettuce waste and okara using high pressure homogenization; (ii) antioxidant extracts were produced from lettuce waste and peach pomace using ultrasounds and microwaves; (iii) functional flour was obtained by air-drying and grinding of lettuce waste; (iv) supercritical-CO2-drying of lettuce waste allowed obtaining a porous material with high solvent loading capacity. The obtained valorisation outputs were then evaluated for their sensory acceptability and consumer response, in order to estimate their market potential. To this aim, the lettuce waste study-case, was analysed by the application of consumer-based methodologies. Obtained results highlighted the possibility to exploit nutritional and environmental claims to promote consumption of waste-derived food. Finally, a multi-objective method was applied to estimate the economic and environmental impact of the proposed valorisation strategies on an industrial scale. The developed approach could be considered a flexible decision support tool to guide stakeholders\u2019 aware choice and investment in the most sustainable valorisation strategies.Il processo produttivo di derivati di frutta e verdura genera enormi quantit\ue0 di scarto, che comporta la perdita di prodotti ad alto valore, elevati costi di gestione ed un notevole impatto ambientale. Per queste ragioni, negli ultimi anni, molta attenzione \ue8 stata dedicata alla valorizzazione degli scarti vegetali attraverso la loro trasformazione in derivati ad alto valore aggiunto. Sebbene la valorizzazione sia comunemente ritenuta vantaggiosa da un punto di vista economico ed ambientale, in realt\ue0 i dati disponibili su costi e richieste energetiche dei processi di valorizzazione, e sulla reazione dei consumatori nei confronti dei prodotti di valorizzazione sono molto limitati. Sulla base di queste considerazioni, lo scopo del progetto di Dottorato \u201cStrategie Tecnologiche per la Valorizzazione Sostenibile di Scarti Vegetali\u201d \ue8 stato quello di sviluppare un approccio razionale alla valorizzazione degli scarti vegetali, in grado di garantire l\u2019ottenimento di prodotti ad alto valore aggiunto, nonch\ue9 la loro fattibilit\ue0 tecnica, senza tralasciare la stima del livello di accettazione da parte dei consumatori e dell\u2019impatto economico ed ambientale. L\u2019approccio sviluppato nel corso del progetto consiste di 4 passaggi: caratterizzazione dello scarto, definizione dei prodotti di valorizzazione, design del processo produttivo e studio di fattibilit\ue0. Questo approccio \ue8 stato validato sugli scarti derivanti dalla produzione di insalata di IV gamma (foglie esterne e torsoli), succo di pesca (bucce e polpa residua) e latte di soia (okara). In particolare, la fase di caratterizzazione ha evidenziato che lo scarto generato durante la trasformazione di questi prodotti varia dal 10 al 40%. Nonostante l\u2019elevato contenuto di acqua (>76%), questi scarti presentano rilevanti quantit\ue0 di fibre (>26% su base secca) e composti fenolici (>2.0 GAE/g su base secca). Sulla base di queste caratteristiche sono stati identificati diversi possibili prodotti di valorizzazione e i corrispondenti processi produttivi, basati sull\u2019utilizzo di tecnologie sia tradizionali che innovative e sostenibili: (i) dagli scarti di insalata e dall\u2019okara, sfruttando l\u2019omogeneizzazione ad alta pressione, sono stati prodotti smoothies pronti all\u2019uso; (ii) dagli scarti di insalata e di pesca, utilizzando ultrasuoni e microonde, sono stati ottenuti estratti antiossidanti; (iii) dagli scarti di insalata, disidratati e macinati, \ue8 stata ricavata una farina funzionale; (iv) l\u2019applicazione dell\u2019essiccamento supercritico ha infine consentito di convertire gli scarti di insalata in un materiale poroso con elevata capacit\ue0 assorbente. I prodotti di valorizzazione cos\uec ottenuti sono stati analizzati in termini di accettabilit\ue0 sensoriale e attitudine dei consumatori, al fine di evidenziarne le potenzialit\ue0 di mercato. A questo scopo, \ue8 stato preso in considerazione il caso studio degli scarti di insalata, applicando metodi consumer-based. I risultati ottenuti hanno dimostrato la possibilit\ue0 di sfruttare claims nutrizionali e ambientali per promuovere il consumo di alimenti derivati da scarti vegetali. Infine, \ue8 stato applicato un metodo multi-objective per stimare l\u2019impatto economico ed ambientale delle strategie di valorizzazione proposte, se applicate su scala industriale. L\u2019approccio sviluppato in questo progetto pu\uf2 essere considerato un flessibile strumento di supporto alle decisioni, in grado di guidare gli stakeholders verso una scelta consapevole circa gli investimenti nelle strategie di valorizzazione pi\uf9 sostenibili

Improvement of fruit product quality and shelf life by changing temperature conditions during transport and storage

PhD ThesisThe present study aimed to investigate whether the temperatures usually applied in the supply chain during transport and storage may be too low for optimal sensory and nutritional quality at the time of purchase and after various post-sale periods in a range of fruit. This research began by investigating the effect of temperature on the quality of ten shop bought fruit (peaches, plums, nectarines, strawberries, red grapes, green grapes, mandarins, plum tomatoes, cherry tomatoes and round salad tomatoes) by keeping them at either refrigerator (6°C) or room (22°C) temperature, such as a consumer would after purchase. These fruit were chosen as they were either ASDA’s top 10 sold species in 2011, or they had been reported problematic in terms of shelf life (peaches, plums and nectarines). This experiment showed that refrigerator temperatures improved fruit firmness and reduced weight loss, but had a negative effect on the taste of round salad tomatoes, grapes and nectarines, most likely as a symptom of otherwise asymptomatic chilling injury (CI). The research that followed investigated the effects of keeping round salad tomatoes at a room temperature (RT) of 23°C, ASDA’s actual supply chain (SC) temperatures (average 12˚C) or an intermediate temperature of 15˚C (IT) for 7 days. Fruits from each treatment were then either kept at post-sale treatment RT (SCRT/RTRT/ITRT) or kept cold at 5°C (F) (SCF/RTF/ITF), until the end of their shelf life (any visible signs of pathogen infection or more than 15% skin wrinkling). Results showed clear differences in consumer preference after 7 days storage, with consumer scores for SC tomatoes always being significantly lower than those for RT tomatoes in all sensory categories (colour, ripeness, moistness, aroma, sweetness, acidity, flavour, overall opinion), except acidity, firmness and crunchiness. IT treatment delayed the onset of ripening with respect to colour, firmness (instrumental and sensorial) and weight loss compared with RT treatment, and IT treatment improved consumer preferences scores compared with the results of SC tomatoes; however, this was not on par with those from RT treatment. RT treatment also produced the highest lycopene accumulation compared with SC or IT tomatoes during the pre-sale storage phase and refrigeration temperatures during post-sale storage, although IT pre-sale treatment did improve lycopene accumulation compared to SC pre-sale treatment. iv After 11 or 15 days in storage, tomatoes from the coldest treatment (SCF) were consistently scored significantly lower in sensory preference than those that had any form of RT storage, showing the detrimental effects of too low temperatures on tomato sensory outcome. Post-sale F treatment also always reduced tomato disease resistance compared with post-sale RT treatment, and those from the coldest treatment SCF always had the lowest shelf life throughout this study, while tomatoes from SCRT or RTRT treatment had the longest shelf life in terms of resistance to disease infection. The results from this study can be used to update recommendations concerning optimal handling temperatures and highlights the importance of keeping tomatoes out of the refrigerator after purchase. This research demonstrates the need for further exploration into the optimisation of the temperatures used for post-harvest storage of fruit, and suggests that the optimal temperatures for the storage and transport of tomatoes during the supply chain are somewhere between 15°C and 23°C, or above.unrestricted educational donation from ASDA and by the University of Newcastle Agricultural Society (UNAS

Dry mixing of spice powders - investigation of effect of powder properties on mixture quality of binary powder mixtures

Dry mixing of binary food powders was conducted in a 2L lab-scale paddle mixer. Different types of food powders such as paprika, oregano, black pepper, onion powder and salt were used for the studies. A novel method based on a digital colour imaging system (DCI) was developed to measure the mixture quality (MQ) of binary food powder mixtures. The salt conductivity method was also used as an alternative method to measure the MQ. In the first part of the study the DCI method was developed and it showed potential for assessing MQ of binary powder mixes provided there was huge colour difference between the powders. In the second and third part of the study the effect of composition, water content, particle size and bulk density on MQ was studied. Flowability of powders at various moisture contents was also investigated. The mixing behaviour was assessed using coefficient of variation. Results showed that water content and composition influence the mixing behavior of powders. Good mixing was observed up to size ratios of 4.45 and at higher ratios MQ disimproved. The bulk density had a larger influence on the MQ. In the final study the MQ evaluation of binary and ternary powder mixtures was compared by using two methods – salt conductivity method and DCI method. Two binary food and two quaternary food powder mixtures with different coloured ingredients were studied. Overall results showed that DCI method has a potential for use by industries and it can analyse powder mixtures with components that have differences in colour and that are not segregating in nature

Collaborative design and feasibility assessment of computational nutrient sensing for simulated food-intake tracking in a healthcare environment

One in four older adults (65 years and over) are living with some form of malnutrition. This increases their odds of hospitalization four-fold and is associated with decreased quality of life and increased mortality. In long-term care (LTC), residents have more complex care needs and the proportion affected is a staggering 54% primarily due to low intake. Tracking intake is important for monitoring whether residents are meeting their nutritional needs however current methods are time-consuming, subjective, and prone to large margins of error. This reduces the utility of tracked data and makes it challenging to identify individuals at-risk in a timely fashion. While technologies exist for tracking food-intake, they have not been designed for use within the LTC context and require a large time burden by the user. Especially in light of the machine learning boom, there is great opportunity to harness learnings from this domain and apply it to the field of nutrition for enhanced food-intake tracking. Additionally, current approaches to monitoring food-intake tracking are limited by the nutritional database to which they are linked making generalizability a challenge. Drawing inspiration from current methods, the desires of end-users (primary users: personal support workers, registered staff, dietitians), and machine learning approaches suitable for this context in which there is limited data available, we investigated novel methods for assessing needs in this environment and imagine an alternative approach. We leveraged image processing and machine learning to remove subjectivity while increasing accuracy and precision to support higher-quality food-intake tracking. This thesis presents the ideation, design, development and evaluation of a collaboratively designed, and feasibility assessment, of computational nutrient sensing for simulated food-intake tracking in the LTC environment. We sought to remove potential barriers to uptake through collaborative design and ongoing end user engagement for developing solution concepts for a novel Automated Food Imaging and Nutrient Intake Tracking (AFINI-T) system while implementing the technology in parallel. More specifically, we demonstrated the effectiveness of applying a modified participatory iterative design process modeled from the Google Sprint framework in the LTC context which identified priority areas and established functional criteria for usability and feasibility. Concurrently, we developed the novel AFINI-T system through the co-integration of image processing and machine learning and guided by the application of food-intake tracking in LTC to address three questions: (1) where is there food? (i.e., food segmentation), (2) how much food was consumed? (i.e., volume estimation) using a fully automatic imaging system for quantifying food-intake. We proposed a novel deep convolutional encoder-decoder food network with depth-refinement (EDFN-D) using an RGB-D camera for quantifying a plate’s remaining food volume relative to reference portions in whole and modified texture foods. To determine (3) what foods are present (i.e., feature extraction and classification), we developed a convolutional autoencoder to learn meaningful food-specific features and developed classifiers which leverage a priori information about when certain foods would be offered and the level of texture modification prescribed to apply real-world constraints of LTC. We sought to address real-world complexity by assessing a wide variety of food items through the construction of a simulated food-intake dataset emulating various degrees of food-intake and modified textures (regular, minced, puréed). To ensure feasibility-related barriers to uptake were mitigated, we employed a feasibility assessment using the collaboratively designed prototype. Finally, this thesis explores the feasibility of applying biophotonic principles to food as a first step to enhancing food database estimates. Motivated by a theoretical optical dilution model, a novel deep neural network (DNN) was evaluated for estimating relative nutrient density of commercially prepared purées. For deeper analysis we describe the link between color and two optically active nutrients, vitamin A, and anthocyanins, and suggest it may be feasible to utilize optical properties of foods to enhance nutritional estimation. This research demonstrates a transdisciplinary approach to designing and implementing a novel food-intake tracking system which addresses several shortcomings of the current method. Upon translation, this system may provide additional insights for supporting more timely nutritional interventions through enhanced monitoring of nutritional intake status among LTC residents