System And Method For Non Invasive Real Time Prediction Of Liquid Food Quality Within Enclosed Package
Abstract:
ABSTRACT
SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR NON-INVASIVE REAL-TIME
PREDICTION OF LIQUID FOOD QUALITY WITHIN ENCLOSED
PACKAGE
5
State of the art food quality measurement techniques fail to determine quality of the
food item once it is packed and sealed in a container. The disclosure herein
generally relates to food quality prediction, and, more particularly, to a system and
method for predicting food quality in a non-invasive manner. A Color Changing
10 Indicator (CCI) in a biosensor strip forming a component of the enclosed package
in which the liquid food item is packed, changes color when came in contact with
the liquid food item. For different quality of the liquid food item the CCI has
different color. Based on the color of the CCI, and ambient temperature and relative
humidity at the time the color of the CCI is determined, a machine learning model
15 determines rate of deterioration of the liquid food item, and then predicts remaining
shelf life, which in turn provided as output to a user.
Get Free WhatsApp Updates!
Notices, Deadlines & Correspondence
Nirmal Building, 9th Floor,
Nariman Point
Mumbai
Maharashtra
India
400021
Inventors
1. DUTTA, Jayita
Tata Consultancy Services Limited
Tata Research Development & Design Centre, 54-B, Hadapsar Industrial Estate, Hadapsar,
Pune
Maharashtra
India
411013
2. DESHPANDE, Parijat
Tata Consultancy Services Limited
Tata Research Development & Design Centre, 54-B, Hadapsar Industrial Estate, Hadapsar,
Pune
Maharashtra
India
411013
3. RAI, Beena
Tata Consultancy Services Limited
Tata Research Development & Design Centre, 54-B, Hadapsar Industrial Estate, Hadapsar,
Pune
Maharashtra
India
411013
Specification
FORM 2
THE PATENTS ACT, 1970
(39 of 1970)
5 &
THE PATENT RULES, 2003
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
(See Section 10 and Rule 13)
10
Title of invention:
SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR NON-INVASIVE REAL-TIME
15 PREDICTION OF LIQUID FOOD QUALITY WITHIN ENCLOSED
PACKAGE
Applicant
20 Tata Consultancy Services Limited
A company Incorporated in India under the Companies Act, 1956
Having address:
Nirmal Building, 9th floor,
Nariman point, Mumbai 400021,
25 Maharashtra, India
Preamble to the description:
The following specification particularly describes the invention and the
30 manner in which it is to be performed.
2
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS AND PRIORITY
[001] The present application claims priority from Indian provisional
application no. 202021045758, filed on October 20, 2020. The entire contents of
the aforementioned application are incorporated herein by reference.
5
TECHNICAL FIELD
[002] The disclosure herein generally relates to food quality prediction,
and, more particularly, to a system and method for predicting food quality in a noninvasive manner.
10
BACKGROUND
[003] In order to enhance shelf-life, liquid food-items are packaged within
air-tight enclosed package. Such enclosed packages may include various layers to
prevent the exposure of the liquid food item with outside environment, thus
15 imparting a comparatively longer shelf-life to the packaged liquid food than those
liquid food items that are kept with improper packaging or no packaging. However,
even with use of such packaging, there are scenarios that leads to huge wastage of
packaged food items.
[004] The liquid food-items within the air-tight containers cannot be
20 evaluated for their quality post packaging i.e., once the air-tight containers are
sealed, the information about the quality of the contents within the air-tight
containers is not available and one has to rely solely on the printed date on the
packaging of the air-tight containers. Further, at times this can prove to be
misleading and contents of the air-tight containers may be good post expiry or
25 worse and inedible even prior to expiry. Such situations can arise due to temperature
shocks received by the air-tight containers during its shelf and transportation lifetime.
[005] Main reason behind said food wastage is inability to monitor the
variation of food quality in real-time under different supply chain scenarios. To
30 address this challenge real time monitoring and prediction of food quality for
3
variety of foods becomes essential. This would enable dynamic decisions on
rerouting, repurposing, and recycling.
SUMMARY
5 [006] Embodiments of the present disclosure present technological
improvements as solutions to one or more of the above-mentioned technical
problems recognized by the inventors in conventional systems. For example, in one
embodiment, a method for non-invasive real-time prediction of quality of a liquid
food item within enclosed package is provided. The method includes the following
10 steps. Initially, color of a Color Changing Indicator (CCI) in a bio-sensor strip
forming a component of the enclosed package is determined, when the liquid food
item comes in contact with the CCI, via one or more hardware processors. The CCI
includes a transparent poly-di-methyl-siloxane (PDMS) substrate, a thin film layer
of bio-edible and bio-compatible color changing pigments, wherein the bio-edible
15 and bio-compatible color changing pigments change color by interacting with one
or more chemical components of the liquid food item, wherein a plurality of physiothermal properties of each of the one or more chemical components vary with
degradation of the liquid food item, and an optical device, wherein the color change
of the color changing pigments is visible through a transparent lens of the optical
20 device. Further, the information on a) the determined color of the CCI, and b) a
measured ambient temperature and relative humidity inside the enclosed package
while determining the color of the CCI inside the enclosed package, are processed
using a machine learning data model, wherein the machine learning data model
determines value of a remaining shelf life of the liquid food item. Further, a result
25 indicating the determined value of the remaining shelf life of the liquid food item
is generated.
[007] In another aspect, a system for non-invasive real-time prediction of
quality of a liquid food item within enclosed package is provided. The system
includes one or more hardware processors, a communication interface (206), and
30 a memory storing a plurality of instructions, wherein the plurality of instructions
when executed, cause the one or more hardware processors to initially determine
4
color of a Color Changing Indicator (CCI) in a bio-sensor strip forming a
component of the enclosed package, when the liquid food item comes in contact
with the CCI. The CCI includes a transparent poly-di-methyl-siloxane (PDMS)
substrate, a thin film of bio-edible and bio-compatible color changing pigments,
5 wherein the bio-edible and bio-compatible color changing pigments change color
by interacting with one or more chemical components of the liquid food item,
wherein a plurality of physio-thermal properties of each of the one or more chemical
components vary with degradation of the liquid food item, and an optical device,
wherein the color change of the color changing pigments is visible through a
10 transparent lens of the optical device. The system then processes information on a)
the determined color of the CCI, b) a measured ambient temperature inside the
enclosed package while determining the color of the CCI, and c) a measured relative
humidity inside the enclosed package while determining the color of the CCI, using
a machine learning data model, wherein the machine learning data model predicts
15 the remaining shelf life of beverages. Further, the system generates a result
indicating the determined value of the remaining shelf life of the liquid food item.
[008] In yet another aspect, a non-transitory computer readable medium
for non-invasive real-time prediction of quality of a liquid food item within
enclosed package is provided. The non-transitory computer readable medium
20 includes a plurality of instructions, which when executed, causes the following
steps for the non-invasive real-time prediction of quality of a liquid food item within
enclosed package. Initially, color of a Color Changing Indicator (CCI) in a biosensor strip forming a component of the enclosed package is determined, when the
liquid food item comes in contact with the CCI, via one or more hardware
25 processors. The CCI includes a transparent poly-di-methyl-siloxane (PDMS)
substrate, a thin film layer of bio-edible and bio-compatible color changing
pigments, wherein the bio-edible and bio-compatible color changing pigments
change color by interacting with one or more chemical components of the liquid
food item, wherein a plurality of physio-thermal properties of each of the one or
30 more chemical components vary with degradation of the liquid food item, and an
optical device, wherein the color change of the color changing pigments is visible
5
through a transparent lens of the optical device. Further, the information on a) the
determined color of the CCI, and b) a measured ambient temperature and relative
humidity inside the enclosed package while determining the color of the CCI inside
the enclosed package, are processed using a machine learning data model, wherein
5 the machine learning data model determines value of a remaining shelf life of the
liquid food item. Further, a result indicating the determined value of the remaining
shelf life of the liquid food item is generated.
[009] It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and
the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not
10 restrictive of the invention, as claimed.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[010] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and
constitute a part of this disclosure, illustrate exemplary embodiments and, together
15 with the description, serve to explain the disclosed principles:
[011] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a liquid food container in
accordance with an example embodiment of the present disclosure.
[012] FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of a system for predicting quality
of a liquid food item contained in a liquid food container (of FIG. 1) is illustrated,
20 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.
[013] FIG. 3 illustrates a method for predicting quality of a liquid food
item contained in a liquid food container, using the system of FIG. 2, in accordance
with some embodiments of the present disclosure.
[014] FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for determining
25 remaining shelf life of a liquid food item stored in the liquid food container of FIG.
1, using the system of FIG. 2, in accordance with some embodiments of the present
disclosure.
[015] FIGS. 5A through 5E are example values of different parameters,
obtained during an experimental conducted to predict quality of a liquid food item,
30 using the system of FIG. 1, in accordance with some embodiments of the present
disclosure.
6
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS
[016] Food wastage due to lack of any effective real-time food monitoring
method has led to a huge economic loss. This situation can be avoided if there is a
provision for monitoring the food quality in real-time which can appraise the
5 consumers regarding the food quality inside the package in real-time. Accordingly,
even if the expiry date for food item is reached, and the food inside package is still
consumable and in good quality, then the stake holders such as retailers, distributors
and so on can opt for dynamic pricing to sell the packaged food. Customer can also
rely on the quality of the food item and buy it even after the indicated expiry dates
10 on the food package.
[017] Hence, it is challenging to implement this conventional method for
real-life supply chain scenarios.
[018] Various embodiments disclosed herein provides method and
apparatus for quality monitoring of packaged food item in a non-invasive manner.
15 For example, in an embodiment, the disclosed apparatus includes a transparent
window configured on a portion of the package for inserting a color changing
indicator (CCI) or a biodetector which when come in contact with the food item
may change color thereof. The change in the color may be visible from outside and
may facilitate in food quality monitoring in real-time and non-invasively.
20 [019] In an embodiment, the disclosed CCI may be designed and
manufactured corresponding to food specific items. In an embodiment, the CCI may
act as a biomarker that may undergo change in color upon coming in contact with
the metabolites (gases, volatile amines etc.) released from the liquid food item
contained in the package. The disclosed method results in a cost-effective real-time
25 monitoring of food quality inside enclosed package (alternately may be referred to
as “storage container” or “containers” or “package” or “package container”) noninvasively by using biodetectors. The biodetectors are further described in detail
with reference to the description below.
[020] Exemplary embodiments are described with reference to the
30 accompanying drawings. In the figures, the left-most digit(s) of a reference number
identifies the figure in which the reference number first appears. Wherever
7
convenient, the same reference numbers are used throughout the drawings to refer
to the same or like parts. While examples and features of disclosed principles are
described herein, modifications, adaptations, and other implementations are
possible without departing from the scope of the disclosed embodiments. It is
5 intended that the following detailed description be considered as exemplary only,
with the true scope being indicated by the following embodiments described herein.
[021] Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to FIG. 1
through 5E, where similar reference characters denote corresponding features
consistently throughout the figures, there are shown preferred embodiments and
10 these embodiments are described in the context of the following exemplary system
and/or method.
[022] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a food container 100 in accordance
with an example embodiment of the present disclosure. For the brevity of
description, the container 100 is shown to assume a cuboid shape, however it will
15 be understood that the container 100 may assume any shape other than the shape
and size shown.
[023] In an embodiment, a biosensor 102 may be configured towards the
inner walls of the container. The biosensor 102 is a color changing indicator,
meaning thereby that a color change in the biosensor 102 upon coming in contact
20 with the contents of the package or the food item may indicate a change in quality
of the food-item.
[024] In an embodiment, the biosensor 102 may be configured in form of
a strip that may be configured (or attached towards the inside of the package
container 100) for detecting quality of the food items therein. Herein, it will be
25 understood that for the brevity of description and ease of understanding, the biosensor is shown to assume form of a rectangular shaped strip. However, in alternate
implementations, the bio-sensor may assume any shape other than the shape shown
here.
[025] In an embodiment, the biosensor 102 may be made on a transparent
30 poly-di-methyl-siloxane (PDMS) substrate 104 followed by a thin film layer 106 of
bio-edible and bio-compatible color changing pigments, which is further followed
8
by an optical device 108, for example a lens. Example of such bio-edible and biocompatible color changing pigments may include but are not limited to, roots,
flowers, leaves of plants, and other parts of plant materials that may contain a
natural pigment, such as anthocyanins. It will be understood that the bio indicator
5 (or the biosensor) is not colorless, instead the bio indicator is configured to change
color upon coming in contact with the food item depending upon the quality of food
item. The optical device or the lens 108 may be configured on top of the thin film
layer 106 such that the color change happening in the nanoparticle layer 106 of the
bio indicator 102 due to the degradation of the quality of food item inside the food
10 container is captured by the mobile camera by illuminating mobile flash.
[026] In an embodiment, the disclosed biosensor may be configured on
any of the inside walls of the container. Additionally or alternatively, the container
100 may include a cut-out/window for configuring the biosensor 102 therein. For
example, a portion of the biosensor may be outside the container through the cut15 out for facilitating detection of change of color of the bio-sensor from outside the
container. In an embodiment, when the biosensor is configured on the topmost wall
of the container, container may be turned upside down to establish a contact
between the biosensor and the food item. Upon coming in contact with the food
item, the biosensor may change color thereof, which may be observed through the
20 transparent lens via an external electronic device (as will be explained later in the
description).
[027] In an embodiment, where the biosensor is configured within the top
wall of the container, the contact of the food item and the biosensor is established
when the container 100 is turned upside-down, and the color of the biosensor is
25 changed corresponding to the quality of the food item inside container. Once again,
if the container is turned back and the container assumes an original resting state,
the connection between the container and food item is disabled. Thus, the change
in the color of the biosensor maybe observed based on the color change by the
biosensor by turning the container upside down.
30 [028] Herein, upon coming in contact with the food item, the biosensor
may change color thereof due to the changes in physio-chemical properties (also
9
referred to as ) of various chemical components of the food item contained in the
container over a period of time. The physio-chemical properties may refer to a
change in, for instance, in metabolites such as volatile compounds including, but
not limited to, trimethylamine (TMA), dimethylamine (DMA), and ammonia
5 (collectively known as TVB-N), biogenic amines such as histamine, putrescine,
tyramine, and cadaverine; ethanol; sulfuric compounds; and organic acids. Herein,
it will be noted that the bio-marker are specific for every food item.
[029] In an embodiment, the change in the color of the biosensor due to
the changes in the physio-chemical properties of food item over a period of time
10 may be captured by an electronic device that may be capable of predicting the
quality of the food item and a remaining shelf-life of the food item. In an
embodiment, the color of the food item may change progressively based on the
change in the quality of the food item. In another embodiment, as the step of
determining quality of the food item may be a real-time process (i.e. as and when
15 the food item comes in contact with the biosensor), the term ‘prediction’ may refer
to the food quality detection being done at current/present instance of time as well,
and may not necessarily indicate a future quality prediction. And in the same
context, prediction of the remaining shelf life serves future quality prediction of the
food item. A system (embodied in the electronic device) for estimating the quality
20 of food item contained in the packaged container, and a method therefor are
explained further with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, respectively.
[030] Referring now to FIG. 2, a block diagram of a system 200 for
estimating quality of a food item contained in a packaged container (for example,
the container 100 of FIG. 1) is illustrated, according to some embodiments of the
25 present disclosure. The system 200 is capable of training a machine learning data
model (may also be referred to as “model” or “data model” or “Artificial
Intelligence (AI) model”) for estimating the quality of food item based on the color
of the biosensor, for example the biosensor 102 (FIG. 1). In an embodiment, the
biosensor 102 may be illuminated by a light (for instance light emitted by an
30 electronic device). The light emitted by the electronic device facilitates in avoiding
confusion in understanding the color change due to other surrounding lights.
10
Herein, it will be understood that any concentrated light source of high intensity
may be utilized for illuminating the bio-sensor 102.
[031] In an embodiment, the system 200 may predict the quality of the
food item based on the color of the biosensor. Additionally, the disclosed system
5 200 may detect ambient temperature and a relative humidity of the food item and
utilize the same for predicting the quality of the food item. In an embodiment, a
micro temperature sensor and a humidity sensor may be fabricated in the biosensor
102 to configure a smart sensor. Said smart sensor (comprising the micro
temperature sensor and a humidity sensor) of the biosensor may not come in contact
10 with the food item contained inside the container. The smart sensor may be internet
of things (IoT)-enabled sensors and may sense temperature and the relative
humidity inside the container. The values of ambient temperature and the relative
humidity sensed by the sensor may be sent to a server, for example a cloud server
and the same may be picked-up by a software application (that may be installed in
15 the electronic device or client device). In an embodiment, the system 200 may be
provide the data including the color of the biosensor, and the ambient temperature
and the relative humidity of the food item to the artificial intelligence (AI) model
and train the same to predict the quality of food item based on the same. In an
embodiment, the AI model may act as a server or may be configured in a server
20 communicatively coupled with the system 200. During inference phase, the AI
model associated with the system 200 may predict the quality collectively based on
the determination of changed color, the ambient temperature and the relative
humidity.
[032] The system 200 includes or is otherwise in communication with one
25 or more hardware processors such as a processor 202, at least one memory such as
a memory 204, and an I/O interface 206. The processor 202, memory 204, and the
I/O interface 206 may be coupled by a system bus such as a system bus 108 or a
similar mechanism. The I/O interface 206 may include a variety of software and
hardware interfaces, for example, a web interface, a graphical user interface, and
30 the like. The interfaces 106 may include a variety of software and hardware
interfaces, for example, interfaces for peripheral device(s), such as a keyboard, a
11
mouse, an external memory, a camera device, and a printer. Further, the interfaces
106 may enable the system 200 to communicate with other devices, such as web
servers and external databases. The interfaces 106 can facilitate multiple
communications within a wide variety of networks and protocol types, including
5 wired networks, for example, local area network (LAN), cable, etc., and wireless
networks, such as Wireless LAN (WLAN), cellular, or satellite. For the purpose,
the interfaces 106 may include one or more ports for connecting a number of
computing systems with one another or to another server computer. The I/O
interface 206 may include one or more ports for connecting a number of devices to
10 one another or to another server.
[033] The hardware processor 202 may be implemented as one or more
microprocessors, microcomputers, microcontrollers, digital signal processors,
central processing units, state machines, logic circuitries, and/or any devices that
manipulate signals based on operational instructions. Among other capabilities, the
15 hardware processor 202 is configured to fetch and execute computer-readable
instructions stored in the memory 204.
[034] The memory 204 may include any computer-readable medium
known in the art including, for example, volatile memory, such as static random
access memory (SRAM) and dynamic random access memory (DRAM), and/or
20 non-volatile memory, such as read only memory (ROM), erasable programmable
ROM, flash memories, hard disks, optical disks, and magnetic tapes. In an
embodiment, the memory 204 includes a plurality of modules 220 and a repository
240 for storing data processed, received, and generated by one or more of the
modules 220. The modules 220 may include routines, programs, objects,
25 components, data structures, and so on, which perform particular tasks or
implement particular abstract data types.
[035] The repository 240, amongst other things, includes a system
database 242 and other data 244. The other data 244 may include data generated as
a result of the execution of one or more modules in the other modules 230. In an
30 embodiment, the repository 240 may store the training data associated with the
prediction of food quality. For example, the training data may include a data
12
associated with the correlation between the color of the biosensor, and
environmental conditions such as the ambient temperature, the relative humidity
and so on. The training data may also include information on quality of the liquid
food item corresponding to a plurality of combinations of a) the color of CCI, b)
5 the value of the measured ambient temperature and the relative humidity.
[036] A method of quality estimation of a food item contained in the
packaged container (for example, the container 100) by using the system (for
example, the system 200) is described further with reference to FIG. 3.
[037] Referring to FIG. 3, a flow diagram of a method 300 for quality
10 estimation of a food item contained in the packaged container is described in
accordance with an example embodiment. The method 300 depicted in the flow
chart may be executed by a system, for example, the system, 200 of FIG. 2. In an
example embodiment, the system 200 may be embodied in a computing device, as
will be described further in the description.
15 [038] Operations of the flowchart, and combinations of operation in the
flowchart, may be implemented by various means, such as hardware, firmware,
processor, circuitry and/or other device associated with execution of software
including one or more computer program instructions. For example, one or more of
the procedures described in various embodiments may be embodied by computer
20 program instructions. In an example embodiment, the computer program
instructions, which embody the procedures, described in various embodiments may
be stored by at least one memory device of a system and executed by at least one
processor in the system. Any such computer program instructions may be loaded
onto a computer or other programmable system (for example, hardware) to produce
25 a machine, such that the resulting computer or other programmable system embody
means for implementing the operations specified in the flowchart. It will be noted
herein that the operations of the method 300 are described with help of system 200.
However, the operations of the method 300 can be described and/or practiced by
using any other system.
30 [039] At 302, the method 300 includes determining the color of the Color
Changing Indicator (CCI), when the CCI comes in contact with the liquid food item.
13
In an embodiment, the step of 302 further involves capturing an image of the
biosensor on which the CCI is present, for example the bio-sensor 102 (FIG. 1)
configured on a packaged container (for example, the container 100) containing a
food item, and then the color of the CCI is determined by processing the captured
5 image using appropriate image processing technique(s). As described previously,
the color of the CCI is indicative of quality of the food item. The food item is made
of a plurality of chemical components, and a plurality of physio-thermal properties
of each of the one or more chemical components vary with degradation of the liquid
food item. For each unique combination of the physio-thermal properties, the color
10 of the CCI is different. This way the color of the CCI gives an indication of the
quality of the food item. Along with the color of the CCI, the system 200 also
collects information on ambient temperature and the relative humidity at which the
container 100 is kept at. The information on the color of the CCI, and the ambient
temperature and the relative humidity are then processed at step 304.
15 [040] At 304, the method 300 includes predicting the quality of the food
item based at least on the color of the biosensor by a pretrained machine learning
data model. In an embodiment, the system 100 determines the quality of the food
material in terms of a determined rate of deterioration of the food material. Various
steps involved in the process of determining the quality of the food material are
20 depicted in FIG. 4, method 400. The machine learning data model is trained on data
which comprises information on quality of the food item corresponding to various
combinations of the color of the CCI, and the ambient temperature and the relative
humidity. Upon receiving the information on the determined color of the CCI, and
the ambient temperature and the relative humidity (collectively referred to as ‘real25 time data’), for the food material for which the quality is to be determined, the
machine learning data model identifies the quality of the food material by
comparing the real-time data with the data in the machine learning data model.
When a match is found for the real-time data in the machine learning data model
(i.e. in the training data), corresponding quality is determined as the current quality
30 of the food material, at step 402 of method 400.
14
[041] Further, at step 404, the machine learning data model determines a
rate of deterioration of the liquid food item, based on the determined current quality
and time expired from date of packaging of the food material. In an embodiment,
the date of packaging is identified automatically by the system 100, during
5 processing of the image collected at step 302. In another embodiment, the date of
packaging is manually fed to the system 100 as an input. The current quality
determined at step 402 may be tagged with a percentage value (i.e. the food material
is 60% good, 80% good and so on). Based on what percentage has deteriorated (for
example, by 30%), and based on time taken for the food material quality to
10 deteriorate to that extent (determined based on the date of packaging of the food
material), the system 100 determines at step 404, a rate of deterioration of the liquid
food material. Further, based on the determined rate of deterioration, the system
100 determines remaining shelf life of the food material, at step 406. For example,
if the determined rate of deterioration indicates that the quality of the food material
15 deteriorates at a rate of 10 percent per day, and 3 days have passed since date of
packaging, the system 100 determines that the food material may be used/consumed
safely for next 6 more days (i.e. remaining shelf life is 6, assuming that the food
material is safe for consumption till the current quality hits 0%, however,
appropriate value may be configured with the system 100).
20 [042] Further, at step 306, the system 100 generates a result indicating the
determined remaining shelf life of the food material, in a pre-configured format. In
various embodiments, the steps in method 300 may be performed in the same order
as depicted in FIG. 3, or in any alternate order that is technically feasible. In another
embodiment, one or more steps in method 300 may be omitted.
25 Example use-case and experimental results:
[043] The design of a colorimetric indicator targeting spoilage reaction(s)
i.e. the biosensor which can be incorporated into the packaging itself, was used to
test quality of orange juice which is packaged in a container. For the sensor to
30 produce color, the biomarker must react with the sensor. For this purpose, the sensor
must satisfy some criteria. E.g. Consider the below reaction, in general:
15
B + X → Y ….….…………….. (1)
where X is some compound in the sensor which is specific to a biomarker
B, and Y is the product formed. Here, the production of Y must produce
some color, which could be proportional to its concentration. As the
5 intensity of the color increases, the observer can infer that the biomarker is
getting depleted.
• Such an assay must be sensitive to changes in the biomarker
concentration in the orange juice. Hence, it must be operational in
the range of concentration that the biomarker goes through in the
10 package.
• Since X and Y are part of the sensor housed inside the package, they
must be non-toxic
[044] The spoilage of orange juice occurs through both enzymatic and
non-enzymatic pathways. In case of aseptically packaged orange juices, the
15 enzymatic pathways are inhibited in order to prolong shelf life. Hence only the nonenzymatic browning occurs in such juices, during transportation & storage.
[045] The concentrations of compounds such as ascorbic acid, sugars
(fructose, glucose, sucrose), dissolved & headspace oxygen, 5-hydroxymethyl
furfural and furfural in orange juice changes (increases/decreases) over time at
20 various temperatures. Degradation of ascorbic acid in orange juice over time is
depicted in FIG. 5A. Orange juice is a rich source of Vitamin C (ascorbic acid),
having ~400 mg/L at the time of packaging. The ascorbic acid degradation is one
of the principal ways by which the quality of the orange juice is commonly judged.
As can be seen in FIG. 5A, the concentration profile drops at every temperature.
25 The dotted horizontal line at 200 mg/L indicates the threshold concentration, below
which the juice is considered unacceptable for consumption. With increasing
storage temperature, the ascorbic acid concentration reaches its threshold more
rapidly.
[046] Similarly, FIG. 5B depicts change in concentration of fructose (A),
30 glucose (B), and sucrose (C) in the orange juice over time. Orange juice contains
sugars in the form of sucrose, glucose and fructose. Their concentration profiles vs
16
storage time at different temperatures is shown FIG. 5B. As can be seen that the
fructose and glucose concentrations continue to increase at all storage temperatures,
whereas the sucrose profile drops as a result of acid catalyzed hydrolysis. The
enzyme glucose oxidase has been known to specifically oxidize glucose into
5 gluconic acid and hydrogen peroxide
𝐺𝑙𝑢𝑐𝑜𝑠𝑒 + 𝑔𝑙𝑢𝑐𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑜𝑥𝑖𝑑𝑎𝑠𝑒 + 𝑂2 → 𝑔𝑙𝑢𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑐 𝑎𝑐𝑖𝑑 + 𝐻2𝑂2
𝐻2𝑂2 + 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑜𝑥𝑖𝑑𝑎𝑠𝑒 + 𝑂2 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑝𝑡𝑜𝑟 (𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠)
→ 𝐻2𝑂 + 𝑂𝑥𝑖𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑝𝑡𝑜𝑟 (𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑑)
[047] The formation of hydrogen peroxide was exploited by an enzyme
10 peroxidase, which could produce color that was proportional to the glucose
concentration. The enzymes in this assay were non-toxic too. This could serve as a
potential sensing system for monitoring glucose concentration. Since the ascorbic
acid concentration can be linked with the glucose concentration, one can get an
estimate of the equivalent glucose concentration when the ascorbic acid reaches its
15 threshold limit. As a result, one could semi-quantitively determine the ascorbic acid
concentration, by observing the color shown by the glucose sensor. This is depicted
in FIG. 5C.
[048] Case study: A colorimetric sensor for glucose, which changes its
color from yellow to dark green in the range over which the glucose concentration
20 varies. The color of the sensor could correspond to some ascorbic acid
concentration, which could be some point on an isotherm (T1). The time it would
take for that isotherm to cross the threshold level could be the useful fresh life of
the product, assuming the storage temperature is known to the consumer. If the
storage temperature were to increase (>T1), the color would intensify, thereby
25 corresponding to a different isotherm with a different shelf life. If the storage
temperature were to be reduced (
Documents
Application Documents
#
Name
Date
1
202021045758-STATEMENT OF UNDERTAKING (FORM 3) [20-10-2020(online)].pdf