The Silicon Review ^Asia

Now detecting adulteration in milk may become easy since a team of researchers from IIT Hyderabad are working on a smartphone-based sensor which will help detect adulteration in milk.

A detector system is being created by the researchers, where it can measure the acidity level in the milk by using a pipe indicator. The system’s algorithm was chipped into a smartphone’s system. The algorithm can detect the change in acidity levels accurately. Inside the smartphone, there is a chip attached to the sensor for measuring the pH level. The pH level will show the amount of acidity and the colour of the paper indicating different pH levels.

The experimentation was carried out by using electrospinning, a scientific process to produce paper-like material. The paper-like material was made up of Nano sized fibres of nylon (~10-9 m diameter).

After that, the material changed colour in response to the change in the pH levels due to a combination of three dyes. The results showed that the newly innovated detector system had an accuracy of 99 per cent.

Currently, people in India are facing a lot of problem in getting pure milk. According to reports, 68 percent of the milk in the country is being adulterated by glucose, caustic soda, white paints, oil or even detergents.

Additionally, to increase the milk’s shelf life, various chemicals like hydrogen peroxide, boric acid and antibiotics are being used by milk producers. These chemicals are very harmful to one’s health.