Deep Learning-Based Model for Effective Classification of Ziziphus jujuba Using RGB Images

Ensuring the quality of medicinal herbs in the herbal market is crucial. However, the genetic and physical similarities among medicinal materials have led to issues of mixing and counterfeit distribution, posing significant challenges to quality assurance. Recent advancements in deep learning technology, widely applied in the field of computer vision, have demonstrated the potential to classify images quickly and accurately, even those that can only be distinguished by experts. This study aimed to develop a classification model based on deep learning technology to distinguish RGB images of seeds from Ziziphus jujuba Mill. var. spinosa, Ziziphus mauritiana Lam., and Hovenia dulcis Thunb. Using three advanced convolutional neural network (CNN) architectures—ResNet-50, Inception-v3, and DenseNet-121—all models demonstrated a classification performance above 98% on the test set, with classification times as low as 23 ms. These results validate that the models and methods developed in this study can effectively distinguish Z. jujuba seeds from morphologically similar species. Furthermore, the strong performance and speed of these models make them suitable for practical use in quality inspection settings.