How to measure ripeness of fruit in 6 simple steps

So far we already said that the DA-meter is an innovative tool for agriculture: it measures thefruit’s ΔA indexthat is anindicator of its maturation level.

However how do you actually make a measurement with the DA-meter?

Let’s go through thefew simple actions you have to make every time you will start a set of measurementswith the DA-meter.

1►Turning on the instrument

Turn on the instrumentby pressing thepower buttonfor less then a second, you will hear alow ‘beep’when it turns on.

At this point, unless you did it little before, the display will show a warning message inviting you tocalibrate the instrument.

Calibrationis a very important process to make accurate measurements,you must not skip this step.

2►Instrument calibration

For thecalibration processyou will need thereference white, that is the white round piece of plastic.

First of allopen the main menuwith themenu button.
When you enter the main menu the pointer (►) will be already on the first item “CAL” which allows you to start thecalibration process. Press theOK button✓to select it.

Now you have to put thesensor of the DA-meter in contact with the reference whiteand pressOK button✓again.
You will see ared lightaround the sensor and you will hear aprolonged ‘beep’.Now the calibration process is completed.

If the process has been correctly performed, the instrument will display the main menu again.

In the event of a calibration failure, it has to be repeated.

3►Clearing the average ΔA data story

Now going through the other menu items the first one after “CAL” is “CONFIG” which allows you to enter the configuration menu that enables to change the personal settings according to the different way of use, but we will examine the various options later on this blog.

Next item we need to select on the menu is “MEAN CLR”.

Now move the pointer (►) on “MEAN CLR” with thedown arrow buttonand select the item with theOK button✓. The instrument will display a message sayingthe mean has been cleared.

Later on this blog we will examine in depth the use of the average ΔA data.

At the moment you just need to know that this step is important in ordernot to falsify the data collection. It has to be done every time you start a new set of measurements in order not to mix previous data with the current ones.

Now you have to press themenu buttontwiceto goback to the main menu.

4►Setting to zero the counter of measurements

Now move again the pointer (►) with thedown arrow buttonon the item “CNT CLR” which enables you toset the counter of measurements to zero. Press theOK button✓to select it.
The instrument will display a message saying thecount has been set to zero.

Now you have to press themenu buttonor any other key to goback to the main menu. 

5►Setting a marker for the current set of measurements

Now move the pointer (►) with thedown arrow buttonon the next item on the main menu which is “SET MARKER” and press theOK button✓to select it.
The instrument will show you anumber, which is thenew marker, that is a serial figureto identify the current set of measurements.

Now you are ready to make a measurement on a fruit, press the left arrow buttonto go back on the main screen.

6►Measuring the ΔA index

To make a measurement you just haveto put the sensor of the instrument in touch with the fruitand press theOK button✓. You will see ared lightaround the sensor and you will hear aprolonged ‘beep’.

The ΔA index has been measured and it will show in the black strip on the lower part of the display.

…and turn it off.
The instrumentwill automatically shut downif you don’t use it for some minutes, but you can also turn it off bypressing the power buttonin the same way you did to turn it on.

ATTENTION!
It is important to know thatthe instrument includes various data collecting optionsthat could be changed when needed from the configuration menu. It is important to distinguish the options in order always toselect the more suitable one.

We are going to examine them in a next post.