A Biomass-Based Colorimetric Sulfur Dioxide Gas Sensor for Smart Packaging

Sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) gas, which can effectively prohibit the growth of pathogenic microorganisms, has been internationally used in commercial food packaging to maintain high-quality food and reduce the incidence of foodborne illnesses. However, the current mainstream methods for SO 2 detection are either large and expensive instruments or synthesized chemical-based labels, which are not suitable for large-scale gas detection in food packaging. Recently, we discovered that petunia dye (PD), which is extracted from natural petunia flowers, demonstrates a highly sensitive colorimetric response to SO 2 gas with its total color difference (Δ E ) modulation reaching up to 74.8 and detection limit down to 1.52 ppm. To apply the extracted petunia dye in smart packaging for real-time gas sensing and food-quality prediction, a flexible and freestanding PD-based SO 2 detection label is prepared by incorporating PD in biopolymers and assembling the films through a layer-by-layer approach. The developed label is utilized to predict grapes’ quality and safety by monitoring the embedded SO 2 gas concentration. The developed colorimetric SO 2 detection label could potentially be used as an intelligent gas sensor for food status prediction in daily life, food storage, and supply chains.