Fruit is a daily serving for most of the people. Have you noticed that no matter where you purchase the fruit, you can always find some perished one, or sometime you may find out it is rotten after you cut it off at home. As a consumer, those are very bad experiences and it will also affect retailers’ reputation.

The main reason for this kind of incident is due to the transportation process or duration of fruit from the plantation to the retailers where fruits may get perished under a long journey of delivery. There is uncertainty of malfunction for the refrigeration inside the cargo containers.

In order to address and solve this problem, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (EMPA) developed an artificial fruit sensor which mimics the size, shape and composition of a real fruit. The sensor will be packed with other real fruit when transit and can be used for closely monitoring its temperature. The data from the sensor can be analysed quickly and easily on arrival at the destination. The quality can be guaranteed, in order to provide fresher fruit for consumers.

According to project leader Thijs Defraeye, the same sensor does not work for all kinds of fruits, as Defraeye explains. "We are developing separate sensors for each type of fruit, and even for different varieties. To simulate the characteristics of different type of fruit, the fruit is X-rayed in order to create the average shape and texture of it. After that, simulate the fruit using mixture of water, carbohydrates and polystyrene, and fill them in a fruit-shaped sensor mould produced on a 3D printer."

With the development and application of this technology, it can improve the sanitary protocols level and cut the cost and time of logistic for supplier, while consumer can have more choices and fresher fruit.

For more information about EMPA’s artificial fruit sensor, please visit: https://www.empa.ch/web/s604/fruit-sensor