8.2.1 Ionic Liquid Based Electrochemical Ethylene Sensor for Fruit and Vegetable Monitoring

Abstract

Ethylene is a plant hormone and an indicator for the ripeness of various fruits and vegetables.Measuring the ethylene concentration is therefore a powerful method for monitoring and controlling the ripening process.However, current ethylene detection equipment is bulky and expensive or lacking sufficient sensitivity and selectivity.At Holst Centre, a novel electrochemical ethylene sensor has been developed, in which a thin ionic liquid film is used as the electrolyte.This enables the development of a small, low power and low cost ethylene sensor.Currently, the detection limit of the sensor is less than 1 ppm.This is close to the specification needed for monitoring the ripening process during transport and storage of fruits and vegetables.Moreover, fabrication of the sensor on a flexible substrate is demonstrated.This opens up possibilities for integrating the sensor in packaging materials, so-called smart packaging.In this contribution, the sensor technology will be explained and recent developments will be presented.