Farmers and exporters often face long waiting times and high costs for laboratory testing, creating hurdles in meeting international market standards. Addressing this challenge, Professor of the Faculty of Agricultural Technology at IPB University, Prof. I Wayan Budiastra, has introduced a breakthrough in non-destructive testing (NDT) for agricultural products.
For more than two decades, Prof. Budiastra has dedicated his research to NDT technologies such as Near Infrared Spectroscopy (NIR), ultrasonic techniques, and Electrical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS). These methods allow real-time inspection of agricultural quality without damaging samples.
"This innovation was born from the need to meet the demands of quality in the global market, shorten the time of analysis, as well as reduce the cost and use of chemicals," said Prof. Budiastra in his statement, Sunday, September 21.
Traditional chemical testing methods can take up to two weeks and cost IDR 200,000–500,000 per sample. By contrast, the NDT-based systems developed by Budiastra can provide immediate results, empowering farmers, cooperatives, industries, and exporters.
Research has shown NIR can predict sugar and acid content in mangoes, caffeine in coffee, and fat levels in palm oil. Budiastra’s team has also designed a UV-VIS-NIR portable device capable of determining palm fruit maturity with near-100 percent accuracy when paired with artificial intelligence.
Ultrasonic and EIS technologies, still in prototype stages, demonstrate potential for assessing the internal quality of thick-skinned fruits. Meanwhile, ongoing studies are exploring sensor-based sorting systems for the crude palm oil industry.
Beyond testing, Budiastra is advancing electromagnetic-wave-based processing, such as ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE), which accelerates compound extraction by 24 times, and a Greenhouse Effect Dryer (GHE) that reduces drying time to just 12 days while preserving quality.
He emphasized the need for policy support to scale these innovations: “With the application of this technology, the competitiveness of superior commodities will increase, as well as boost the income of farmers and small industries.”
By applying NDT in agriculture, IPB University is positioning Indonesia’s export commodities—such as mango, mangosteen, coffee, nutmeg, pepper, and palm oil—for greater competitiveness in global markets.
Reference: https://voi.id/en/technology/516644
