Advance Packaging to Track Freshness of Food

Researchers at Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland have developed plastic food packaging that can detect the ripeness of fruits and vegetables.

The packaging has been integrated with a low-cost and energy efficient olfaction system to detect the smell of the produce.

It uses sensors to measure basic parameters such as temperature, humidity and ethylene gas, an essential plant hormone that stimulates the ripening of fruit.

The packaging can also measure the amount of hexanol – an indicator of food deterioration – in the vapours emitted from the produce.

In supermarkets, the technology could one day lead to ‘smart perishable dates’ on product wrapping, the researchers said.