Milk carton with integrated paper-based microfluidics for milk quality rapid test

This study integrated paper-based microfluidic device on a milk carton for a rapid milk quality check. The microfluidic device was printed on the outer surface of milk carton using commercial wax printer. The testing process is fully automatic, after apply one drop of milk on the loading point, milk was driven by capillary force in the porous paper fiber in wax-defined microchannels to reach the preload reactants for chromogenic reaction. The proposed integration method provides a simple, low cost and rapid onsite milk quality check technique for milk consumers, and also have wide potential applications in food industry. Practical applications Microfluidics has been widely used in the chemical and biological field for analysis or synthesis, in this research, the microfluidic devices were integrated on the outer surface of a milk carton for a rapid and low-cost milk quality test, and the test result could be easily read using mobile phone app. The proposed research is of significant application prospect in food industry for rapid and onsite food quality test using the microfluidic devices integrated on paper packaging. The fabrication method of the microfluidic devices proposed in this research using wax printing is also low cost and nontoxic, and could be easily integrated with the current paper packaging production line.