Fraunhofer Institute introduces micro-device to evaluate food quality

Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystems (Fraunhofer IPMS) in Dresden, Germany, have developed a new device to help consumers evaluate the quality of food before its purchase.

The spectrometer is 30% smaller than a sugar cube, and the institute claims that it is more compact than the currently available counterparts and could be installed in smartphones in the future.

According to the researchers, consumers could hold the smartphone near the food product, launch the corresponding app, select the food type from the menu, and then the device measures the amount of water, sugar, starch, fat and protein present, and makes the recommendation whether to buy the product or not.

The device is capable of screening several centimetres below the surface of the food product and can also take measurements even if a thin packaging film is present on the food product.

The new infrared spectrometer works by focusing a broad-bandwidth of light on the food product, and based on the product composition, various wavelengths of lights are reflected in the near infrared range with different intensities.

By examining the resulting spectrum, scientists can know the amount of various substances present in the product. The researchers also said that new device, which has a volume 2.1cc, is inexpensive to produce, and is suitable for mass manufacture.

To develop the spectrometer, the researchers used a technology known as micro electro mechanical systems (MEMS), which eliminates the need for assembling individual components.

The production process involves manufacturing the individual gratings and optical gaps directly on silicon wafers, which are capable of holding components of hundreds of spectrometers and makes it possible to produce hundreds of spectrometer systems at once.

The researchers will be launching a prototype at the Sensor+Test tradeshow being held in Nuremberg, Germany, from May 22 to 24 2012.

Currently, the researchers are also developing algorithms which can analyse the recorded spectrums, compare them with standard values and advise the consumers on selecting the product.

The new device could be ready to be introduced into the market in three to five years.

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Image: Complete with integrated diffraction grating, grating drive, position detector and optical gaps, the spectrometer is much more compact than those currently available in the market. Photo: Fraunhofer IPMS