This collection of chapters describe the applications of different spectroscopic techniques in food quality analysis. There are 10 chapters contributed by experts from different laboratories and countries. The first chapter, Spectroscopic techniques for the analysis of food quality, chemistry, and function, by Monalisa Mishra, highlights the importance of food quality analysis and introduces the reader to different spectroscopic techniques used for the characterization of food items. The second chapter, Spectroscopic techniques for quality assessment of tea and coffee, by Anna Dankowska, Katarzyna Włodarska, Abhishek Mandal and Ewa Sikorska, discusses the applications of different non-destructive spectroscopic techniques coupled with multivariate analysis to the quality analysis of tea and coffee, including green tea. Chapter 3, Fruit/juice quality assessment using spectroscopic data analysis, by M. Moncada-Basualto, J. Pozo-Martínez and C. Olea-Azar, considers the importance of various techniques based on different regions of the electromagnetic spectrum and talks about quality analysis applications for fruits and juices. Chapter 4, Advanced analytical methods for the detection of irradiated foods, by Grzegorz Piotr Guzik and Wacław Stachowicz, presents the applications of thermoluminescence and electron spin resonance spectroscopy for the quality analysis of irradiated foodstuffs. Chapter 5, Review of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) in food analysis, by J. O. Cáceres, reports recent trends in food quality analysis using LIBS. Daniel Cozzolino discusses novel applications and developments utilizing vibrational spectroscopy for estimating compositional parameters of interest in the wine industry in Chapter 6, entitled Visible and near-infrared spectroscopy for quality analysis of wine. Abdul Rohman and his co-authors describe different methods for the quality analysis/authentication of olive oil, virgin coconut oil and cod liver oil in Chapters 7, 8 and 9, respectively. In Chapter 10, On-site food authenticity testing: advances in miniaturization of spectrometers and machine learning, C. N. Ravishankar and his co-authors present several chemometric data analysis tools, software and machine learning algorithms for food authenticity testing using miniature vibrational spectroscopy devices.

Fundamentals of the techniques and instrumentation have been included wherever it was felt necessary so as to bring a sense of completeness in individual chapters and hence to suit the needs of novice researchers.

I sincerely thank Nicki Dennis, Book Commissioning Editor, Food Science and Chemistry, at The Royal Society of Chemistry for giving me the chance to compile this volume for interested readers. I also wish to thank Liv Towers, Editorial Assistant, Books, for her support during the different stages. Finally, my grateful thanks go to the various expert authors for contributing to this volume and helping me to keep to the schedule.

Ashutosh Kumar Shukla

Prayagraj, India