Author
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Nelson, Stuart |
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Submitted to: Meeting Proceedings
Publication Type: Other Publication Acceptance Date: 10/18/2004 Publication Date: 10/28/2004 Citation: Nelson, S. O. Application of dielectric spectroscopy in agriculture. 2004. First University of Georgia Engineering Conference. Poster presentation. Interpretive Summary: Technical Abstract: Permittivities, or dielectric properties, of agricultural products are of interest for sensing qualities of products, such as moisture content in cereal grain and oilseed crops. These properties are also necessary in studies on radio frequency or microwave dielectric heating for processing or conditiioning these products. They are also important in assessing the potential usefulness of dielectric heating for controlling pests, such as stored product and wood infesting insects, human pathogens in food materials, and weed seeds or other organisms in soil. Several of these applications have been considered and the importance of dielectric properties has been discussed. The application of broadband dielectric spectroscopy to the study of agricultural products can be expected to reveal additional ways that electrical instruments might be useful in sensing the quality or other characteristics of such products. Measurements of the dielectric properties of several fruits and vegetables have been obtained to provide some background data on the properties of these products. Graphical data for tissue of fresh navel orange are presented, which show the frequency and temperature dependence of the dielectric properties. Further studies are planned to learn whether permittivity may be a useful indicator of maturity or other characteristics. |
