Application of Tunable Diode Laser Spectroscopy for the Assessment of Food Quality.

Adequate food packaging is important to ensure food quality and prolong the shelf life of food. Frequently, the method of modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) is used. We used a tunable diode laser spectroscopy technique to detect the oxygen content in food packages, e.g., in packaged milk and bread. Different detection geometries were adopted to be able to collect scattering light that had passed through the gas volume in the packages, and to avoid the disturbance of ambient air. Furthermore, studies of the bread-baking process have been performed by measuring the water vapor signals in a fermenting dough. The results demonstrate that the technique has a great potential for nonintrusive assessment of food quality and the bread-baking process.