A smart sensing system for the fig drying process

Abstract

In recent years, emerging technologies have allowed the measurement, analysis, and control of many processes. Many researchers have taken particular attention to developing smart sensing solutions for different fields, such as Smart Industries, Smart Metering, Smart Building, and so on. However, this new enabling and emerging technologies can also be used to analyze and improve craft operation processes in agriculture. An example is the natural fig drying process, usually made adopting only natural sources. In this case, the process is regulated by the availability of unpredictable climate conditions, so the correct detection of the drying process ending point represents an essential aspect of improving the drying process throughput. The paper aims to describe the design of a smart sensing system made for monitoring the fig drying process, measuring different parameters such as the drying temperature and relative humidity and correlating them with the weight loss and water activity of figs. The analysis of data collected during the drying process has been reported and discussed to demonstrate its effectiveness in speeding up the drying process.