A moisture detection sensor for flour based on the gas in scattering media absorption spectroscopy

Abstract

AbstractFlour is an essential ingredient in human daily diet, thus it is crucial to measure its moisture content. However, current detection methods are time‐consuming and labor‐intensive, hindering quick measurement. Here we demonstrate the measurement of moisture content in flour via gas in the scattering media absorption spectroscopy (GASMAS) technique. A compact sensor that includes distributed feedback laser driver, cuvette, photodetector, analog lock‐in amplifier, and analysis processing module is developed. We measure the equivalent mean path length of various flour samples, and verify the measurement sensitivity of GASMAS by studying its dependence on moisture content. A linear relationship between path length and moisture content is established by least‐squares curve fitting, corresponding to a correlation coefficient of 0.996. Compared to the drying method, our method shows a maximum error range of 6.1% for all samples, providing a highly accurate and reliable measurement of water content in flour.