Non-destructive Brix measurement of strawberries with NIRONE Spectral Sensor

When sweet fruit reach their peak ripeness, they will usually contain the highest possible amount of sugar. Measuring the amount of dry matter or simply the amount of sugar in a fruit would be highly advantageous in a number of businesses, from the production at orchards and farms to fruit processing, and
even at the store where consumers could have the quality of their chosen fruit tested before purchase. Brix measurements are most ideal for monitoring a food product or a process for measuring the degree of maturity of a particular crop.

The degrees Brix is a simple scientific measure of the total soluble solids (TSS) contained in a liquid. 1 °Brix equals 1 gram of dissolved sucrose sugar in 100 grams of water. The typical degrees Brix measurement can be done with a refractometer, which are available as both classic mechanical versions and modern digital
versions. The major disadvantage of the refractometers is that the sample, namely the fruits to be tested, need to be destroyed to have the fruit juices on the refractometer. With near-infrared spectroscopy the destructive sampling of the fruits can be bypassed, and the quality of the fruit can be tested without waste
or harmful chemicals.

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