Robust deep learning method for fruit decay detection and plant identification: enhancing food security and quality control

This paper presents a robust deep learning method for fruit decay detection and plant identification. By addressing the limitations of previous studies that primarily focused on model accuracy, our approach aims to provide a more comprehensive solution that considers the challenges of robustness and limited data scenarios. The proposed method achieves exceptional accuracy of 99.93%, surpassing established models. In addition to its exceptional accuracy, the proposed method highlights the significance of robustness and adaptability in limited data scenarios. The proposed model exhibits strong performance even under the challenging conditions, such as intense lighting variations and partial image obstructions. Extensive evaluations demonstrate its robust performance, generalization ability, and minimal misclassifications. The inclusion of Class Activation Maps enhances the model's capability to identify distinguishing features between fresh and rotten fruits. This research has significant implications for fruit quality control, economic loss reduction, and applications in agriculture, transportation, and scientific research. The proposed method serves as a valuable resource for fruit and plant-related industries. It offers precise adaptation to specific data, customization of the network architecture, and effective training even with limited data. Overall, this research contributes to fruit quality control, economic loss reduction, and waste minimization.