Development of a Portable Electronic Nose Device for Sensing Harvested Fruit Volatile Organic Compounds

Climacteric fruits are considered a staple among many communities globally. However, wastage of these fruits due to overripe qualities continues to be a problem as fruits are commonly thrown out immediately. Since the traditional method of determining fruit quality remains subjective and often inconsistent, a more scientific and accurate means of determining fruit ripeness is needed. This study developed a portable electronic nose (e-nose) prototype containing calibrated gas, temperature and humidity sensors with a design enclosure that would house all electronic components. A geodesic dome was designed and fabricated for the enclosure using fused deposition modelling 3D printing. The design was considered due to its compressive strength, wind resistance, and air flow ventilation. Moreover, the portable e-nose was equipped with a sensor chamber consisting of a sensor array of MQ3, MQ4, MQ135, and DHT11 sensors. These would detect volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted by Lakatan banana while monitoring the temperature and humidity levels throughout the detection.