EVOH-Based pH-Sensitive Optode Array and Chemometrics: From Naked-Eye Analysis to Predictive Modeling to Detect Milk Freshness

Abstract

This work aims to develop an efficient sensing device to detect milk freshness when stored at typical home conditions. The synthesis of the pH-sensitive optode array, the experimental setup for milk freshness monitoring, and the optode array images acquisition procedure are presented. The employment of various chemometric tools on optode array RGB triplets to visualize, compare, and predict the spoilage of commercial types of milk is discussed. The conclusions drawn from multivariate analyses on optode colors were confirmed using different independent methods. Despite the apparent simplicity, the here proposed sensing device fulfills the requirements for both consumer-friendly naked-eye analysis and chemometrics-assisted prediction of milk freshness. Furthermore, the application of the sensing device on real milk samples during spoilage at home conditions represents a major step forward in the panorama of freshness indicators for dairy products.