Infrared Thermographic Signal Analysis of Bioactive Edible Oils Using CNNs for Quality Assessment
Danilo Pratticò, Filippo Laganà
Abstract
Nutrition plays a fundamental role in promoting health and preventing chronic diseases, with bioactive food components offering a therapeutic potential in biomedical applications. Among these, edible oils are recognised for their functional properties, which contribute to disease prevention and metabolic regulation. The proposed study aims to evaluate the quality of four bioactive oils (olive oil, sunflower oil, tomato seed oil, and pumpkin seed oil) by analysing their thermal behaviour through infrared (IR) imaging. The study designed a customised electronic system to acquire thermographic signals under controlled temperature and humidity conditions. The acquisition system was used to extract thermal data. Analysis of the acquired thermal signals revealed characteristic heat absorption profiles used to infer differences in oil properties related to stability and degradation potential. A hybrid deep learning model that integrates Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) with Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) units was used to classify and differentiate the oils based on stability, thermal reactivity, and potential health benefits. A signal analysis showed that the AI-based method improves both the accuracy (achieving an F1-score of 93.66%) and the repeatability of quality assessments, providing a non-invasive and intelligent framework for the validation and traceability of nutritional compounds.