Optical system for automatic color monitoring in heterogeneous media during vinification processes

• Published in: Sensors and actuators. B, Chemical Vol. 285; pp. 513 - 518
• Main Authors: Terrades, Salvador, Wagner, Simon, Ros-Lis, Jose Vicente, Ibáñez, Javier, Andrés, Ana
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Lausanne Elsevier B.V 15.04.2019; Elsevier Science Ltd
• Subjects: Color; Color intensity; Cost analysis; Filtration; Optical measuring instruments; Optoelectronic nose; Rangefinding; Sensor; Shade; Wine; Wines; Wine; Color intensity; Optoelectronic nose; Sensor; Shade
• ISSN: 0925-4005; 1873-3077
• DOI: 10.1016/j.snb.2019.01.033

•An optical sensor for the measurement of wine color intensity and shade was developed.•The sensor does not need direct contact with the sample.•It allows the direct measurement in the deposit but discloses the values of filtered samples.•The hardware and the model has been developed in cellars under real conditions.•The sensor offers accuracy with an average error relatively low. Wine is one of the most important food products worldwide. However, the application of technologies to the winemaking process can improve. An RGBC optical sensor, used to measure color intensity and shade, was developed and tested in real environments. It is able to measure samples without filtering by offering the color intensity and shade of a filtered sample. Color intensity can be measured within the range of 1.5 and 9.5 color points with an approximate 3% error. The model for shade can be applied to red wines with an approximate 1% error. It can operate directly in cellars under real operating conditions. It avoids collecting samples, and filtering and measuring in a spectrophotometer. It opens the door to automatic and continuous color and shade measurements by increasing knowledge of the process, reducing the cost of analytics and offering enologists a tool to improve wine quality.