Low-cost honey adulteration detection platform with a plug-and-measure microwave sensor

In this paper, a low-cost honey adulteration detection platform centered around a plug-and-measure microwave sensor is proposed. An application-specific resonant-type sensor operating in the single-GHz range was developed featuring high sensitivity on honey electrical parameters deviation as it happens in the adulteration process. The sensor is connected through a generic pin header to a balun circuit that provides differential excitation to the sensor while enabling S-parameter measurement using a single-ended one-port instrument. The platform uses an ultra-low-cost portable Vector Network Analyzer connected to a PC with control and processing software. A platform demonstrator was developed and experimentally tested. Various kinds of honey, syrups, and honey- syrup mixtures were measured, and adulteration level detectability was assessed. It is shown that the system features a detection threshold that is as low as 5% of adulterant content which is better than current industrial methods.