Speaker
Description
The classic technologies for quality control and monitoring of agricultural products and bio-tests, namely, liquid chromatography (HPLC), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), etc. are large and costly instruments that can be used on a laboratory scale, not being eligible to be used in the field or in the product processing facilities (olive mills etc.). Although they are needed for calibration reasons, new, portable and inexpensive measuring instrumentation and sensors are needed for this purpose. Such an instrument for testing agricultural products in the form of liquids, like olive oil, wine, etc. is the above mentioned ΠLab. A laser source, preferably in the UV or blue Visible range, excites the sample, which in turn generates (photoluminescence), absorbs (absorption effect) and scatters light. Thus, a portable photo-spectrometer detects the number of photons at different wavelengths, while a camera determines the scattering effect. This way the signature of the liquid is determined. Several measurements have been made in olive oils from Peloponnese and Attika, using the ΠLab. These measurements have been compared with reference & certified HPLC and MRI measurements. The results are convincing that the instrument can monitor the amount of the polyphenols in the liquid, as well as other characteristics, like contamination by hydrocarbons, pesticides and other contaminants. Furthermore, the recognition of specific compounds and polyphenols can also be realized, using plasmonic substrates to enhance the resolution of measurements.
