Low Budget Respirometer Chamber Design Based on Wireless Sensor Network

Abstract

Fresh fruit respiration information is essential optimizing food storage systems. Meanwhile, respiration is defined as the process of oxygen production and carbon dioxide release during storage in a closed respiratory chamber. Therefore, this study aims to design a low-budget computerized respiratory chamber for enhancing fruit packaging and storage system. Real-time fruit respiration can be measured by applying wireless gas sensors network. The respirometer consisted of 3,600 mL glass jar with a screw stainless lid, while the electrochemical and non-dispersive infrared sensors were mounted on the cover of the glass jar for collecting data on the oxygen, carbon dioxide, and temperature during mangoes’ respiration. Arduino USB port was used to record all measured parameters consisting of oxygen (%) and carbon dioxide concentrations (ppm, as well as temperature in the respiration chamber. Additionally, a controlled cooling chamber was applied to maintain the temperature during storage, while data communication was supported by Xbee S2C based on radio frequency. According to the respirometer real-time reading, there was a decrease in oxygen concentration caused by increasing carbon dioxide release with temperature. The low-budget respirometer was used to measure the respiration rate and record the data through a wireless sensor network system. The data plot shows that the respiration rate increased as the storage temperature and the respiratory quotient ranged from 0.32-0.44.