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Review
. 2022 Mar 16;22(6):2290.
doi: 10.3390/s22062290.

Sensors and Instruments for Brix Measurement: A Review

Swapna A Jaywant  1 , Harshpreet Singh  2 , Khalid Mahmood Arif  1
Affiliations
Review

Sensors and Instruments for Brix Measurement: A Review

Swapna A Jaywant et al. Sensors (Basel). .

Abstract

Quality assessment of fruits, vegetables, or beverages involves classifying the products according to the quality traits such as, appearance, texture, flavor, sugar content. The measurement of sugar content, or Brix, as it is commonly known, is an essential part of the quality analysis of the agricultural products and alcoholic beverages. The Brix monitoring of fruit and vegetables by destructive methods includes sensory assessment involving sensory panels, instruments such as refractometer, hydrometer, and liquid chromatography. However, these techniques are manual, time-consuming, and most importantly, the fruits or vegetables are damaged during testing. On the other hand, the traditional sample-based methods involve manual sample collection of the liquid from the tank in fruit/vegetable juice making and in wineries or breweries. Labour ineffectiveness can be a significant drawback of such methods. This review presents recent developments in different destructive and nondestructive Brix measurement techniques focused on fruits, vegetables, and beverages. It is concluded that while there exist a variety of methods and instruments for Brix measurement, traits such as promptness and low cost of analysis, minimal sample preparation, and environmental friendliness are still among the prime requirements of the industry.

Keywords: Brix sensor; agricultural products; alcoholic beverages; fruit quality; sugar content.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Different stages of fruit maturity.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Brix measurement with hydrometer in a graduated cylindrical container.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Features of analog, digital, and benchtop refractometers.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Constructional block diagram of an electronic tongue.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Brix monitoring at different stages of wine and beer production.
Figure 6
Figure 6
General scheme of amperomertic biosensors for detecting sugar and alcohol levels in process industry.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Brix measurement methods for fruits and vegetables.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Brix measurement methods for wine and beer.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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