A multi-fused convolutional neural network model for fruit image classification

Abstract

Fruit categorization presents a significant challenge due to the diverse range of fruit types and their similarities in color, shape, size, and structure. This challenge is addressed in this research by proposing a multi-fused CNN approach that integrates three state-of-the-art deep learning models, namely EfficientNet-B0, MobileNetV2, and ResNet50V2, into a unified pipeline. The primary objective is to enhance prediction accuracy and mitigate overfitting issues commonly encountered with conventional techniques. Utilizing the Fruit-360 dataset (both small and full versions), the proposed multi-fused CNN model demonstrates superior performance, achieving an impressive accuracy rate of 99.32% and 97.15% in classifying fruit types across 24 and 131 different categories, respectively. This substantial improvement underscores the potential of the proposed approach in reliably detecting fruit types. In future work, efforts will be directed towards optimizing the model for enhanced processing speed, facilitating real-time performance in practical applications, particularly in agricultural automation. Additionally, rigorous experiments on diverse real-world fruit images will be conducted to further validate the robustness of the proposed model.