US Patent 9824298 Prediction and detection of produce quality

Techniques for predicting and detecting produce quality may be provided. For example, visual or infrared characteristics of a produce item (e.g., skin, shape, wrinkles, and other characteristics of an apple, pepper, etc.) may be compared with ripeness characteristics of the type of produce item (e.g., other apples or peppers). The ripeness characteristics may correspond with the type of produce item at different stages of ripeness along a ripeness regression (e.g., a timeline of the produce item from raw to rotten). One or more ripeness scores of the produce item may be determined along a timeline (e.g., raw at day 1, rotten at day 10, etc.), so that when a user requests a produce item corresponding with a particular ripeness score, the produce item can be provided to the user based in part on the visual or infrared characteristics of the produce item and ripeness regression.