Edible temperature sensor for easier food preservation

Keeping fresh food at a preservative temperature during transport is a more difficult problem than people think – but the Swiss are doing it. One of their research groups invented a temperature sensor that can be biodegraded so that it keeps food fresh from the start to the mouth.

Why do you need a temperature sensor? Simply put, in order to keep fresh food fresh, they are kept at a certain low temperature. At this time, if you use your hand to sense the temperature, it is a very painful thing. However, if you can monitor it wirelessly in real time with a temperature sensor, you can save time and effort. Although this is already done now, such as with RFID tags, etc., these labels are made of undesired metals, which may even be toxic. Giovanni Salvatore, a Zurich-based researcher, uses a material that humans can safely digest to make an ultra-thin sensor. Today, he and his team published research in the journal Advanced Functional Materials. They managed to make a sensor that was only 16 microns thick - in contrast, human hair is about 100 microns. The filaments are made of magnesium, and they said at a press conference that "(magnesium) is an important part of our diet." “Of course, why not. Similarly, this edible temperature sensor also uses silicon dioxide and silicon nitride, which are also harmless to the human body. It is a compostable polymer made from corn and potato starch. Bring them together. The whole thing can be bent, stretched, and even work in a crumpled state. So when you randomly choose apples, fish, bananas, etc., put them on a truck or boat. In the freezer, you can then check the actual temperature of the food outside the freezer. When they reach their destination, these temperature sensors will eventually degrade in your body.

Of course, the power and wireless components used in this process are not biodegradable – they are placed elsewhere and are connected to a zinc cable (which may also be an important part of our diet). This is the problem, they only solve half of the problem. But this is better than nothing.