AI technology in smart drying of foods: A critical review of research and applications

Abstract

Artificial intelligence (AI) and sensor technology will be the focus of future research on the intelligence of the food processing industry. The integration of AI and sensor technologies in the food drying industry can help visualize highly nonlinear, complex, and dynamically changing food drying processes to fully understand the drying kinetics and guide the optimization of the drying process. This review systematically summarizes the application of various AI technologies in food drying and presents several potential applications and limitations of various advanced AI combined with sensors (Electronic nose, Computer vision, Hyperspectral imaging etc.) for the real-time monitoring of food drying processes. In addition, according to the characteristics of different food drying processes, applicable AI technology and related sensor technology are summarized. Finally, the application and prospects of AI combined with 5G and IoT technologies for online real-time monitoring of food drying are discussed, with the aim of providing a new research direction in this field. Appropriate AI technology combined with sensor technology for different drying methods and food materials can process a large amount of characteristic data in real time, significantly reduce the calculation time and improve the prediction accuracy, optimize process parameters, improve the quality of dried food, and maximize energy saving. AI and sensor technologies have a bright future for the online real-time monitoring of food drying.