X-ray Image Analysis to Detect Infestations Caused by Insects in Grain

Insect infestations in stored wheat affect the chemical characteristics and baking qualities of wheat flour, and insect-infested flours are unacceptable in the baking industry. The efficiency of the soft X-ray method to detect infestations caused by Cryptolestes ferrugineus (Stephens), Tribolium castaneum (Herbst), Plodia interpunctella (Hubner), Sitophilus oryzae (L.), and Rhyzopertha dominica (F.) in wheat kernels was determined in this study. Wheat kernels infested by different insects were prepared by artificial implantation of insect eggs or by introducing adult insects in wheat samples. Kernels infested by different stages of the insects were X-rayed until the adults emerged from the kernels. A total of 57 features using histogram groups, histogram and shape moments, and textural features were extracted from the X-ray images and a linear-function parametric classifier was used to identify the insect-infested kernels. The parametric classifier identified more than 84% of infestations due to ...