CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION
Food spoilage is a common household concern, causing severe
foodborne illnesses and also resulting in pecuniary losses for the food
producing area. Perishable foods such as meat, bread, fish, potatoes
and tomatoes have a short life span. Other foods retain for a
significantly longer time but will spoil eventually. After food has been
gathered, slaughtered or harvested it begins to deteriorate until it
finally lose its edibility. This is known as food spoilage. It also mean
that the original nutritional value, texture, flavour of the food are
damaged, the food become harmful to people and unsuitable to eat.
One of the causes of food spoilage is microbial spoilage, this
refers to damage to food that is caused by microorganisms (bacteria,
moulds and yeast). Microbial safety of food has turned out to be an
importance for the consumers, on top of the food industry, and
guidelines that involve observing and the implementation of control
systems have been considered. Research in the food safety has been
constantly focused on the search for subtle, precise, swift, and costeffective methods in determining possible microbial threats.
Americans waste a lot of foodsome 35 million tons get thrown
into the garbage each year. Part of this is just because consumers cant
figure out whether their food is still good or not. Food labels are
confusing, and people understandably would rather toss their nearlyfull gallon of orange juice after the date stamped on the bottle than
risk ingesting something spoiled. Its hard to tell whether that best
before stamp means your product is actually unsafe after that date, or
if it just might look a little less pretty than it did when it was brand new
(http://mentalfloss.com/article/66539/4-future-gadgets-could-alert-youspoiled-food, 24 July 2015). On our counterpart, Filipinos also tend to

do the same thing. The device can help prove a way for those people
to surely assume the edibility of their food. This project provides them
safety from what food spoilage can cause to them.
Project Description
The Perished Food Detector is a device for determining the
status of the food whether it is deteriorated or not. This is done by
comparing the altered parameter of the spoiled food to its ideal state.
The main detector scans the food for its current state, sends the data
into the main device that will require an input which is the type of food
that is being scanned. The main device will check the database for the
foods ideal state then compares it with the scanned one. If it detects a
deviation, the device will be marked red. This means that the food is
contaminated and therefore unsafe for consumption.
The application of this project is mainly on food safety. The
design project will help people become aware of microbes entering
their food. The design is simple to interact with, making it easy to use.
This design project is generally inquired on the possibility of creating a
device can distinguish the deteriorative property of the food and
capable of defining the acid and alkaline content of food that a person
normally eats
Statement of the Problem
Food is a primary need by humans, so foods must be doublechecked before eating it. Sometimes, one can't distinguish if a food a
food is not edible anymore, so they come up suffering to foodborne
illness. The perishable food detector will help to prevent said problems.
The device will also answer this main questions:
1. How can we detect spoilage of foods?

2. What must be detected by this device?

3. What parameter regarding food spoilage should we consider
in detecting perished food?
4. How will the detector determine if the food is spoiled or not
based on the used parameter?

Research Framework
Theoretical Framework
Food spoilage is caused by bacterial growth on the food itself. As
bacteria grow in the food they deliver changes in food products that
alter its texture, composition and flavor. One of the factors that affects
bacterial growth is pH. pH is a measure of acid or alkali in a product.
It is indicated on a scale from 0 to 14, with seven being neutral. If the
pH value is below 7, the food is classified as acid; if it is above 7, the
food is classified as alkaline. The Clemson Universitys Department of
Food, Nutrition and Packaging Services explains what pH is and relates
it to bacterial growth.
The intensity of acidity of a food is expressed
by its pH value. The pH of a food is one of several
important factors that determine the survival and
growth
storage

of
and

microorganisms
distribution.

during

processing,

Consequently,

food

processors are interested in determining the pH of

foods and in maintaining pH at certain levels to
control

microbial

deterioration

growth

and

prevent

product
and

spoilage(http://www.foodsafetysite.com/educators/comp
etencies/general/bacteria/bac3.html, 2012)
This article is used as a basis for developing the project since
they are in the same field. In view of the fact that the following
statements have basis and undergo profound experimentation, same
principle was used.
There are three types of microorganisms that causes microbial
spoilage yeasts, moulds and bacteria. These microbes, along with
other factors contribute on affecting the spoilage of food. Spoilage
microorganisms cause detrimental changes to the quality of food but
are not toxic to consume.
Microorganisms, specifically bacteria, molds, and yeasts, can
cause food to spoil. For example, microorganisms that break down fats
in unsalted butter can cause it to become rancid. Bacteria that breaks
down protein in meat (proteolytic bacteria) and results in foul odors.
Also, if milk is kept too long or at improper temperatures, it will sour.
Bacteria that have survived pasteurization grow in the milk and
produce acid from the lactose that is naturally present in the milk
(http://www.foodsafetysite.com/educators/competencies/general/spoila
ge/spg1.html, 2012).
The website also stated that most bacteria, yeast and moulds
thrive and grow on different pH levels.
Every microorganism has a minimum, an
optimum and a maximum pH for growth. Most
microorganisms grow best at pH values around 7.0
while only a few grow below pH 4.0. Yeasts and
molds

are

generally

more

acid

tolerant

than

bacteria and can grow at lower pH values. Foods

with pH values below 4.5 are usually not easily

spoiled by bacteria but are more susceptible to

spoilage by yeasts and molds. Microorganisms can
grow in wide pH ranges and these ranges are
probably the difference between different bacterial
strains, types of food or growth medium and the
type

of

acid

or

base

used

to

adjust

pH.

(http://www.foodsafetysite.com/educators/competencies/g
eneral/bacteria/bac3.html, 2012)
An alkaline or acidic surrounding can uphold microbial growth.
Bacteria prefer pH levels that are neutral (6.6 7.5) the most. Yeasts
and moulds can thrive at 1-1/5 pH levels which is very acidic.
All bacteria require a certain pH level, which can vary widely in
the many different types of bacteria, reports Trudy Wassenaar of
Argonne National Laboratory. Changing the pH level means adding or
subtracting hydrogen ions. Whether bacteria can live outside of their
optimal pH range depends on the particular bacteria's ability to live in
or

self-correct

environmental

pH

changes.

(http://www.ehow.com/about_5695904_effects-ph-bacterialgrowth.html)
Conceptual Framework
The Perished food detector is a smartphone-based device which
makes it a very simple to use. An android application is used to acquire
the data gathered by the detector by manual input of the user. The
detector itself is not capable of providing definite results and therefore
must send the data to the smartphone for interpretation. The detector
provides the initial data to be compared and delivers it via display
output. The detector and the smartphone are not physically connected
and must be operated independently.

Figure 1 shows the operational framework of the study. After the

detector gathers the data from the sample, transmission of data to the
system is done manually by the user. The android application has a
simple, user-friendly interface that can be handled easily. Two input
boxes will be on the application, one for the gathered pH data level and
one for the sample type respectively.
The process stage involves the interpretation of the gathered
data to which the user will know whether the food is contaminated or
not. The interpretation is done by comparing the tested input data
from its ideal state. The ideal state in which the sample is to be
compared will be based on the built-in database in the application.
After the analysis, the application will display the result whether
the sample is positive or negative to bacterial contamination and if or
not the food is safe for consumption. The process is done for at least
less than two seconds depending on the speed of the handheld device.

Figure 1.Conceptual Framework of the Perished Food Detector

Project Objectives

The researchers developed a perished food detector with

smartphone UI which detects a food sample and determines if it is
contaminated with bacteria or safe for human consumption.
Specific Objectives
1. To know on what pH level-limit the different spoilage microbes
grow.
2. To detect the pH level of different kinds of food groups using a
pH detector.
3. To construct a device that detects pH level of food.
4. To develop an Android application that will compares tested
samples to its ideal state.
5. To develop a simple-to-use device that can point out spoiled
foods within seconds
Scope and Limitation of the Project
This study aims to create and design a device that can detect a
food if it is already spoiled. The study involves collection of pH level of
different foods which will serve as a database of the device. The device
has a sensor that can measure the pH level of the food to be tested.
The measured pH level will be compare to the collected data and
through that we can tell if the food is already spoiled or not.
The device can be applied on household uses, small cafeterias,
and canteens. It has an Android user interface output, since almost
every person nowadays has a phone, availability of the smartphone is
not a problem. The device can only detect the food spoilage of a single
food only. Mixed foods cannot be detected. The pH detector device
prefer and is more accurate on liquid and liquefied foods. The android
application will provide the information of whether the sample scanned

is safe for consumption or not. It will also display the current detected
pH level and the ideal pH level for the subject food.
The android application is developed using Android Studio and
Android Software Development Kit. Android applications are developed
in the Java programming language. Android Application Package (APK)
is the package file format used by Android operating system for
distribution and installation of mobile applications.
The pH detector is not completely stand alone, it will still detect
the pH level but it cannot tell solely the status of the sample without a
smartphone. The smartphone device must have an android operating
system and version of 2.3 (Gingerbread) above.
Significance of the Study
With the development of a device that will detect perished
and/or contaminated food is recognized by the following:

For Food Business Entrepreneurs. As food being their main

business, they must consider food safety as one of their top concern.
For the ECE students. As the beneficiary of our research, it will help
them in their studies and it can serve as a guide for their future
references.
For the researchers. This will be very useful for them because it can
serve as a guide for their research problem and also they can get
information for their own researches.

For the future researchers. This project can be a reference for

future researchers that will be having the same or similar topic on their
respective research.
Research Methodology
Research Design
The project used the descriptive and experimental research
method. The researchers were able to solve the problems to identify if
the foods are spoiled or not. The researchers also defined, analyze and
know what are the foods contain when it is spoiled. The project
performs this function to help us and also the person that cant identify
the condition of the foods.
Sources of Data
The sources of data are composed of primary and secondary
materials. For the primary data, the researchers do an experiment or
an observation to know the condition or what are the spoiled foods
contain.
For secondary data, the researchers studies from different
libraries, previous research and through internet. But the researchers
gathered data most on internet because theres a lot of information
you can saw through internet.
Research Instruments
The researchers did not make an interview for this project. They
think that this project doesnt need interviewing a person. They do an
experiment/observation to make an additional data.

Data Gathering Procedures

To support this proposal, the researchers gathered information
through internet. Most of information that they need can saw in
internet all about on determining the condition of the food if it is good
or not. Also there are a lot of studies all about on spoiled foods in
internet.
Definition of Terms
Conceptual Terms:
Spoilage - The process in which food deteriorates to the point in which
it is not edible to humans or its quality of edibility becomes reduced.
Microbial Spoilage - Refers to damage to food that is caused by
microorganisms.
Microorganism - A microscopic living organism, which may be single
celled or multicellular.
Parameter - A rule or limit that controls what something is or how
something should be done.
Food borne illness - Any illness resulting from the food spoilage of
contaminated food, pathogenic bacteria, viruses, or parasites that
contaminate food, as well as chemical or natural toxins such as
poisonous mushrooms and various species of beans that have not been
boiled for at least 10 minutes.

PH Level - A measure of acidity or alkalinity of water soluble

substances (pH stands for 'potential of Hydrogen').
Android app - A software application running on the Android platform.
Because the Android platform is built for mobile devices, a typical Android
app is designed for a smartphone or a tablet PC running on the Android OS.
Android application package (APK) - The package file format used by the
Android operating system for distribution and installation of mobile apps and
middleware.
Android software development - The process by which new applications are
created for the Android operating system.
Android SDK (Software Development Kit) - A set of development tools used to
develop applications for Android platform.
Java - A general-purpose computer programming language that is concurrent,
class-based, object-oriented and specifically designed to have as few
implementation dependencies as possible. Java is the language used in
android development.