Synchrotron tomography applications in agriculture and food science research

Synchrotron tomography applications in agriculture and food science research

A 5-minute read

 

In this article, synchrotron X-ray imaging's properties and uses in agricultural and food science research are introduced. The agriculture and food sector is a huge industry that includes natural resources like water, fertilizers, and organic matter in addition to plants, ani mal food, and their products. These things differ from one another in terms of varieties, species, grades, and types due to distinctive internal characteristics, compositions, and structures.

Synchrotron tomography applications in agriculture and food science research

Figure 1.  Schematic diagram of how X-rays pass through object. Dashed line shows X-ray wave without object. Upper curves: cross section corresponding to X-ray phase shift. Lower curves: cross section corresponding to X-ray absorption (  Yashiro et al., 2021)

 

In order to improve the use, conservation, and productivity of plants, seeds, soil, and food, scientists can quickly and non-destructively analyze the internal properties and compositions of these resources using synchrotron imaging techniques utilizing a bright and tuneable technology. imaging setup shown in Fig. 1. Synchrotron phase  contrast imaging or microtomography is very similar to SR-absorption based CT imaging; the only difference is that Fresnel fringes are produced because the detector is placed at a variable distance from the sample rather than being placed close to it as in SR-absorption CT base imaging. Low-density materials can also be imaged because of the technique's utilization of X-ray refraction by the sample, which draws attention to the sample's edges and internal boundaries even if the material does not absorb adequate X-rays to provide a clear abs X-ray image.

Synchrotron tomography applications in agriculture and food science research

Figure 2.  Left: X-ray images and Right: 3D segmentation of maize seeds at four different developmental stages corresponding to 7, 9, 12 and 21 days  (Rousseau et al., 2015)

 

Prior to Rousseau et al., the growth phases of maize seeds after days of pollination (DAP—7, 9, 12, and 21) were exclusively studied using conventional histology, which is a skilled and time-consuming task. The results showed a good match for the assessment of the length of several seed components when compared to conventional histology. From 7 to 21 DAP, the basic thresholding method was employed to quantitatively separate maize seeds into their four constituent parts: embryo, endosperm, nucellus, and pericarp.

 

 

Synchrotron tomography applications in agriculture and food science research

References

[1] Yashiro, W., Voegeli, W., & Kudo, H. (2021). Exploring frontiers of 4D X-ray tomography.  Applied Sciences (Switzerland)  ,  11  (19), 1–16. https:// doi.org/10.3390/app11198868

[2] Rousseau, D., Widiez, T., Tommaso, S., Rositi, H., Adrien, J., Maire, E., Langer, M., Olivier, C., Peyrin, F., & Rogowsky , P. (2015). Fast virtual histology using X-ray in-line phase tomography: Application to the 3D anatomy of maize developing seeds.  Plant Methods  ,  11  (1), 1–10. https://doi.org/ 10.1186/s13007-015-0098-y

 

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