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About NutriMeter refractomers (Versions I - IX)
The Optical Refraction Principle
The speed of light isn't always the same. It actually slows down when it moves through some transparent materials, like glass or water. When light slows down, it changes direction. This "refraction" of light is the reason a straw in water looks bent or broken and why objects viewed through a glass bottle appear distorted.
or
If you put a very straight pole into a dam, you will notice that it appears not straight, but bent at point of entry to the water.
This is because the image has suffered from refraction, caused by the water.
The Optical Refraction Principle
The illustration on the left explains how to use a refractometer and how light refraction measurement works.
- Squeeze juice / extract sap (a Garlic Crusher or special pliers)
- Or, if already in liquid form, like a beverage, use the pipette.
- Place under the plastic flap in the front, and hold firm.
- Look though the eye piece at the back.
If you put a very straight pole into a dam, you will notive that it appears not straight, but bent at point of entry to the water.
This is because the image has suffered from refraction, caused by the water.
How to read BRIX, Specific Gravity or Wort
This is a Nutrimeter II which illustrates the versatility of the optical approach. (A NutriMeter I has only the BRIX scale, best for produce measurement (0-32 degrees of refraction)
SG Wort is a measure of Specific Gravity used in the brewing of beer, but also for liquids like battery fluid, oils, etc.
Simply put, the higher the density of the produce liquid or sap, the higher the BRIX reading (between 0 - 32 degrees of refraction)
Some 80 years ago, Dr Carey Reams conduct a nation wide survey across the USA to "rate" 50 odd fruits and veggies as either "poor", "average", 'good" or "excellent" - see here on Page 2 of the downloadable .pdf.
The Spectroscopy Approach
First produced in 2017, hand-held spectrometers emit a bright light (either infra-red or other), read its spectral finger profile or print, and use that profile to match, in the cloud, existing, pre-calibrated profiles of that particular produce, and produce.
In the pic on the top RHS, the spectrometer reads, without touching, a tomato. It's spectral profile is them matched against standards in the cloud, and a BRIX reading of 3.5 is produced on your mobile.
We can even scan the spectral profile or fingerprint of glyphosate to see it's concentrations in the soil of the grass our beef or sheep graze*.
This shows what info an NIR (Near Infra Red) scan collects over various wavelengths (by kind permission of a NZ colloeague).
For fruit, veggies, cereals, grains, meats, fish, even chocolate, their spectral fingerprints (in SCiO's case) or profiles are sent up into the cloud and matched against BRIX-calibrated profiles, to get the equivalent BRIX Readings and Ratings.
* Although our 10th evolution of Nutrimeter X (Nx) is focused on nutrient density readings, we are starting to work on :
- Nxi - the ID of bad chems in soils and produce
- Nxii - the ID of GMO in same.
The Nutrimeter X approach.
Due to the high demand by consumers to find the most delicious, nutritious before they have to pay for it, it was clear that a new approach, a 2-3 sec scan, was needed.
So, when COVID crushed our complementary FindGoodFood NFP project in 2020, we focused on the NutriMeter project. By 2023, we had worked out an onboard algorithm which produces a Nutrient Density Index (NDI) which allows you to select the most delicious, nutritious produce, with the results consistently (100%) comparable to BRIX meters (very accurate) or to spectrometers like the SCiO.
Nx is actually our 10th evolution of our BRIX / Nutrimeter products, since 2010.
It is made of metal, so very sturdy, and will have a small digital display (in the depression, before the white button), which indicates the NDI.