Consumer‐oriented intelligent ripening control system for post‐ripening fruit

Abstract

To address the issues commonly encountered in traditional fruit ripening processes, which include reliance on manual experience, low efficiency, single control parameter, and significant fluctuations, a new intelligent fruit ripening control system has been designed. This system is based on a mathematical modeling algorithm, which allows for more effective and precise control over the ripening process. To ensure that the ripe fruits are transported to the fruit processing center in a low ripeness state, the proposed system adopts a strategy of precise control of temperature and ethylene, as well as range control of other environmental parameters. The RSSA‐PID model is used for ethylene and temperature control, which has high smoothness, fast response time, and high stability. Compared with the traditional PID model, the RSSA‐PID model has better dynamic performance and stability. Finally, the proposed system is applied to the ripening process of post‐ripening fruits, and the results show that the system achieves intelligent ripening, precise control, and low power consumption. The temperature and ethylene concentration are controlled within a variation of no more than 0.5%, and the humidity, oxygen, and carbon dioxide are maintained within reasonable thresholds. Overall, this paper provides a promising solution for the ripening process of post‐ripening fruits, which can benefit the fruit industry by improving the efficiency and quality of the supply chain.Practical ApplicationThe ripening chamber environment is a dynamic equilibrium environment with non‐linear characteristics because the fruits in the ripening chamber are constantly exchanging substances and energy with the environment through respiration and transpiration. An intelligent ripening control system (IRCS) for post‐ripening fruits is proposed in this paper (Figure 1). The whole ripening process runs automatically, which significantly reduces the ripening time and saves a lot of post‐processing time. The shorter ripening time combined with the latest intelligent software and hardware means that only as much energy as is actually needed is consumed. If the sales market changes, the fruit can be stored under air conditioning (CA) until the scheduled delivery date without significant further ripening and losses and complaints can be minimized.