For the first time researchers develop X-ray that can assess peanuts' quality

For the first time in history, researchers from India have developed an X-ray that can assess the quality of peanuts while still inside the hull.

This is good news for farmers as it will not only improve crop quality but help with faster and mass production of peanuts.

The study was led by a team of researchers from the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and the Fraunhofer Development Center for X-ray Technology.

"What took three-five skilled workers 30 minutes can now be done by a single technician in two minutes," Stefan Gerth, Head of Department, EZRT said.

Experts say it will also enable the accurate and timely evaluation of the peanut pods for important market-related characteristics like kernel weight or shelling percentage from the X-ray scan of whole unshelled peanut pods.

The processing algorithms that allow ‘virtual shelling' are also being explored for future evaluation of various other crops such as rice, oats and barley.

"We are also exploring the usage of X-ray radiography and tomography–based methods for testing seed embryo viability. In gene banks, a large number of precious seed samples need to undergo germination tests to check the seed viability every few years," said Sunita Choudhary, Scientist, ICRISAT.

They will also develop a portable X-ray imaging system that will be especially useful in grain value chains where the time needed to assess the economic value of grain by threshing or milling is a significant barrier.