Precision variety identification of shelled and in-shell pecans using hyperspectral imaging with machine learning

Pecans are essential nuts containing polyunsaturated fatty acids and dietary fiber which offer health benefits to humans. They are exported and sold in both in-shell and shelled forms. However, varietal identification poses a challenge to both producers and processors, which results in variety substitution for economic advantages. The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy of visible near-infrared (VNIR) and near-infrared (NIR) hyperspectral imaging systems (HSI) to accurately identify pecan cultivars (Cape fear, Desirable, Stuart blend, and Sumner). The in-shell and shelled spectra were acquired using VNIR and NIR-HSI at wavelengths 400–1000 nm and 900–1700 nm, respectively. The spectra dimensionality was reduced using principal component analysis (PCA). Thereafter, the selected principal components (PCs) were used to build six machine learning classifiers (Decision Tree, Random Forest, Gradient Boosting, Partial Least Square Discriminant Analysis, Support Vector Machine, and Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA)) for four-class classification. LDA with and without PCA achieved the highest accuracy for both pecan forms. For shelled pecans, the LDA without PCA achieved 90.59 % and increased to 91.67 % accuracy with PCA on the VNIR spectra, while the LDA without PCA achieved 93.36 % and increased to 93.52 % accuracy with PCA on the NIR spectra. For the in-shell pecans, LDA without PCA achieved 98.59 % and increased to 99.12 % accuracy with PCA on the VNIR spectra, while LDA with and without PCA achieved 98.26 % accuracy for the NIR spectra. Moreover, Successive Projection Algorithm was also implemented for wavelength selection and modeling with satisfactory results. Overall, higher accuracy was achieved in the in-shell pecan. This study revealed the usefulness of HSI systems in identifying pecan varieties.