Edible Electronics: When checking the quality of food will be much easier
Imagine a sensor mixed with frozen foods that is able to detect, and communicate, if a product has been accidentally defrosted and refrozen, signaling the incident, but that can be mixed with food without any problem because it is edible. he last frontier towards which research in this sector is moving and the realization of printed circuits is moving towards this result.
ACS Sensors experts wrote a report presenting their own work in making edible printed sensors, which could help understand when food has been contaminated or refrozen, with serious consequences.
The printed electronics market is growing strongly, with a revenue stream of $ 53.5 billion in 2021 and set to reach $ 103.8 billion by 2027. This is a growth rate of 16, 56% from 2022 to 2027, in just five years. By now there are projects and products made capable of introducing printed circuits and sensors in many products of daily use, including clothes and plasters, in order to detect, for example, the state of health of people. Here, however, we really go to another level: the ACS Sensor team has developed an edible sensor, made with food-grade materials, such as salt, red cabbage and beeswax, capable of letting people know if the food has been defrosted and then refrozen, all to avoid possible damage from food contamination to human health.
To create a sensor for frozen products, one solution might be to use materials with modified electrical properties at the time of melting. It would also be optimal if such a change signaled the event in some way, such as a color change. Additionally, an edible electronic device, which uses only food and consumable components, would be the safest way to monitor food. The device was tested with an electrical power supply through frozen edible electrolyte solutions, including table salt and calcium-containing salts, as well as foods naturally rich in electrolytes, including grapes, cantaloupe and apple. The solution was allowed to thaw and the current was delivered between -50C and zero, which, according to the researchers, can be fine-tuned according to the amount and type of salt. Therefore the circuit is activated only when a certain temperature level is reached. Finally, the food sensor is encapsulated in beeswax, however edible.
This type of technology will allow to continuously and carefully monitor the logistic cycle of products, allowing to increase food safety and reduce waste. Then, if you eat an electrical circuit, you will not risk your health.
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The Edible Electronics article: when checking the quality of food will be much easier comes from ScenariEconomici.it .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/elettronica-commestibile-quando-controllare-la-qualita-dei-cibi-sara-molto-piu-semplice/ on Wed, 19 Oct 2022 10:00:20 +0000.