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Food Ingredients

Small spectrometer helps cocoa traders

by Melody M. Bomgardner
April 20, 2019 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 97, Issue 16

 

A photo shows a tiny spectrometer shining a beam of blue light on some coffee beans.
Credit: Consumer Physics
The SCiO spectrometer can analyze cocoa beans for moisture content.

Olam Cocoa, a division of the agribusiness firm Olam International, will provide its field and purchase managers with pocket spectrometers from Consumer Physics, a San Francisco–area start-up. The miniaturized, near-infrared device, called SCiO, will allow workers to nondestructively analyze the moisture range in cocoa beans in less than a minute. The data from the devices will allow smallholder farmers to sell directly to buyers and obtain a price based on the quality of their beans.

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