Just how ripe is that pineapple?
9 Sep 2009 by Evoluted New Media
A new system based on metal oxide sensors could check the safety and quality of foods reliably, quickly and economically – such as how ripe that pineapple really is.
A new system based on metal oxide sensors could check the safety and quality of foods reliably, quickly and economically – such as how ripe that pineapple really is.
Major suppliers might soon be able to call on the help of a system that uses volatile components to detect when the pineapple is ripe and when it can be delivered to the supermarket.
The system has been developed by researchers at the Fraunhofer Institutes for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology IME and for Physical Measurement Techniques IPM in Germany. It checks gas emissions – directly in the warehouse.
“We have brought together various technologies based on the use of metal oxide sensors, similar to those installed in cars, for example, to close ventilation vents when driving through a tunnel. Researchers at IPM have developed these sensors further. If a gas flows over the sensor, at temperatures of 300 to 400°C, it will burn at the point of contact. The subsequent exchange of electrons changes the electrical conductivity,” explained Dr Mark Bücking, head of department at IME. “Before the gas reaches these sensors, it has to go through a separation column with polymers. Certain substances are already filtered out here.”
A prototype of the analysis equipment already exists. The team say the initial tests were promising – the system measures the volatile substances just as sensitively as conventional equipment used in food laboratories. In a further step the researchers want to optimise the system and adapt it to specific problems.
The researchers are also investigating whether the equipment could be used to test pork.
