The determination and qualification of sugars in fruits are important for quality control and assurance of horticultural produce. The sugars determine the sweetness levels in fruits. The requirement for a universal technique that is also robust to predict the sweetness of the fruit in a non-destructive fashion is immense. The handheld refractometer, hydrometer, electronic tongues, and high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) in combination with other detectors have long been used to determine the sweetness of horticultural produce. Though these techniques are very accurate and useful, they require extensive sample preparation and are generally time-consuming and expensive. Optical techniques like visible to near-infrared spectroscopy (vis/NIRS) are simple in use and can rapidly predict the sweetness of the fruit in a non-destructive fashion.

Measuring perceived sweetness by monitoring sorbitol concentration in apples using a non-destructive polarization-based readout.

The determination and qualification of sugars in fruits are important for quality control and assurance of horticultural produce. The sugars determine the sweetness levels in fruits. The requirement for a universal technique that is also robust to predict the sweetness of the fruit in a non-destructive fashion is immense. The handheld refractometer, hydrometer, electronic tongues, and high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) in combination with other detectors have long been used to determine the sweetness of horticultural produce. Though these techniques are very accurate and useful, they require extensive sample preparation and are generally time-consuming and expensive. Optical techniques like visible to near-infrared spectroscopy (vis/NIRS) are simple in use and can rapidly predict the sweetness of the fruit in a non-destructive fashion.