Seeing the Unseen – Traceable Fruit Quality Detection Technology
“Our innovation is not the first of its kind, but we believe its uniqueness makes it stand out from others. Most importantly, we hope it can benefit the public and can be used by everyone, from customers to agricultural professionals,” said the humble and practical researcher, Professor Zhu Furong, Associate Dean (Research and Postgraduate Studies) of the Faculty of Science and Director of The Institute of Advanced Materials (IAM) of the Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU).
Inspired by the use of non-contact infrared forehead thermometers, which had become our daily habit ever since the outbreak of the pandemic of COVID-19, Professor Zhu thought of applying the near-infrared (NIR) technology on something that can be widely used in our daily life. Why fruits? Professor Zhu associated their technology with the Old Age Allowance (commonly known as “fruit money”) and Hong Kong people’s passion for fruit, and came up with the idea of a pioneering portable fruit quality detector – “Crimson Vision”.
What Makes Crimson Vision Unique?
Humans cannot see through fruits to measure the sugar level while intrusive methods are mainly used to do so in the current market. Unlike other non-destructive methods such as spectrometers, Crimson Vision detects fruit quality fast and accurately at an affordable price. Professor Zhu appreciated HKBU’s comprehensive support and assistance, providing an encouraging and constructive research culture, infrastructure and environment for initiating his research journey of non-destructive NIR fruit detection technology.
Traceable Fruit Quality Detection Technology and Internet of Things (IoT) Solutions
The photodetector responds in NIR and visible light ranges and generates NIR or visible light photocurrents. After the fruit absorbs and reflects NIR inside, Crimson Vision selects specific NIR frequencies, picks up the signal sensitively and accurately, and measures the absorbance after diffused reflection. The results can be compared with its own database through an algorithm, to calculate the fruit quality, such as sugar content, acidity and water content, without the heavily priced spectrometer.
Applications and Aspirations
Other than the established connections with several farms and agricultural practitioners in Jiangsu, Shanghai and Zhejiang in mainland China for enhancing the database and applications, Professor Zhu’s latest collaboration will happen in Q3 2023, with one of the leading supermarket chains in Hong Kong. Crimson Vision will be used to perform real-time testing of some imported fruits’ quality on shelves. Meanwhile, Professor Zhu and his research team are developing a mobile application to compare the testing results instantly with their own database, making the technology more user-friendly.
Not only does this aspiring technology helps customers to select better choices in the market, but it is also particularly useful in the supply chain’s different stages, from the farm to the market, from improving cultivation methods and quality control for the fruit industry, helping farmers to plant and yield higher quality products while customers would be satisfied with their purchase.
From Food Detection to Wellness Monitoring
Upon the consolidation of Crimson Vision’s role in the fruit/agricultural industry, Professor Zhu has initial plans to extend its applications to the medical field, looking for deeper discussions and partnerships with leaders in Chinese medicine.
“We look forward to having more different professionals to join our team, and more partnerships with vegetable and agricultural departments. Someday Crimson Vision may help in early screening of common diseases, providing a fast, accurate, economical, non-intrusive solution,” said Professor Zhu.
About the Researcher
Professor Zhu Furong is a Professor in the Department of Physics, Associate Dean (Research and Postgraduate Studies) of the Faculty of Science, Director for the Research Centre of Excellence for Organic Electronics and the Institute of Advanced Materials at HKBU. He received his BSc and MSc in Physics from Fudan University, Shanghai China, in 1983 and 1987. He completed his PhD in Applied Physics at Charles Darwin University in Australia from 1990 to 1993. He did his post-doctoral research in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Kyoto University in Japan from 1993 to 1995 and was a Research Fellow with the Department of Physics at Murdoch University in Australia from 1995-1997 working on silicon thin films derived from plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition for device application. He has graduated 15 PhD students. Currently there are 3 PhD students in his group. He has published over 200 refereed journal publications and also filed 10 patents in low processing temperature indium tin oxide (ITO) transparent electrodes and organic electronic devices.
In 2019, Professor Zhu established a start-up company, Crimson Vision Technology Limited, a technology company dedicated in developing and advancing the NIR light detection techniques for fast and portable detection. “Multi-mode photodetectors and methods of fabricating the same” by Professor Zhu was awarded a Gold Medal at International Exhibition of Inventions Geneva, the inventions referenced annual event in the world.