Developing a Real-time Monitoring Traceability System for Cold Chain of Tricholoma matsutake

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The paper aims to monitor the cold chain of a specific food product. The article is well written and the results are interesting.

However some minor revisions should be done before the pubblication in the journal:

Correct the sentence pag 1 line 37-38.

please include some recent papers related to the supply chain monitoring

G. La Scalia, L. Settanni, O. Corona, A. Nasca, and R. Micale, An innovative Shelf Life model based on Smart Logistic Unit for an efficient management of the perishable food supply chain, Journal of food process engineering, Journal of Food Process Engineering. 2017, volume 40 issue 1, 

R. Sciortino, R.Micale, M.Enea, G. La Scalia, A webGIS-based system for real time shelf life prediction ,Computers and Electronics in Agriculture 127 (2016) 451–459 

Pag 3 line 107 please explain geo-parameter

Figure 4, 5 and 11 have to be improved in quality

Author Response

Point 1: Correct the sentence pag 1 line 37-38. 


Response 1: In recent years, the Internet of Things (IoT) has become an important research topic [6–10], and the emerging IoT technologies are gradually getting ripe.

Point 2: Please include some recent papers related to the supply chain monitoring

Response 2: I have added several references in Introduction section.

Generally, perishable food produces a large amount of data from the production process to the circulation. And these data can be obtained through multi-source sensor monitoring, GPS, mobile, internet and other channels. Then, by analyzing the data and modeling, it is possible to predict the shelf life of fresh produce. Literature also presents several contributions on the control of food safety and shelf life (SL) of products. In order to guarantee and control food safety and shelf life (SL) of products, a supply chain monitoring system was developed based on a smart logistic unit (SLU) dedicated to perishable food products [27]. A Smart Logistic Unit (SLU) equipped with a GPS module and a 3G connection module was used to real time position the truck and remote quality supervision [28]. Based on the previous studies, this paper aims to develop a Real-time Monitoring Traceability System (RM-TM) using emerging IoT technologies for monitoring the cold chain logistics environmental parameters of Tricholoma Matsutake.

Point 3:Pag 3 line 107 please explain geo-parameter

Response 3:The RM-TM can display the information of temperature, humidity, oxygen, carbon dioxide and geographic location parameters of the cold chain in real-time.

Point 4: Figure 4, 5 and 11 have to be improved in quality

Response 4: The modified images are as shown in PDF file.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

The article describes the development of a sensing platform to monitor the preservation of fungi during storage and transport. The topic is highly relevant and central to current trends in ensuring quality of fresh produce in their supply chain. However, the paper needs considerable work before being considered for publication. There are too many issues with the text (from English to paper structure and consistency) that I must recommend the authors to ask a native English speaker, experienced scientist, to review this manuscript prior a new submission. The list of issues are too long for a detail description, which is beyond the scope of a peer review. Some examples are:

- The name of the fungi should be in italics;

- References provided are not directly related to the topic; some are not correctly written;

- The Abstract and the "Discussion and Conclusion" are significantly different. IoT did not appear as a keyword, in the abstract or in the title, but it is referred in the introduction as a key aspect of the work as well as at the "Discussion and Conclusion";

- At the end of the Introduction the authors make reference to "Future work", but nothing is referred to later on.  

- Quality of Figures must improve (e.g., Figure 4 has component details that are impossible to read,  that are Figure 6 has vertical text that is difficult to read, etc). 

- Discussion is too short.

- Many references (as said above) are not related to the topic in the text;

- The authors should refer to  Tricholoma matsutake as also important in many other parts of the world.  

- Table 3 has CO2 and not CO₂. And the same for other gases.

- Real-time and real time used on both formats (with and without hyphen across the manuscript). The correct should be like used in the title.  

There is no paragraph in this manuscript that does not require review. 

Author Response

Point 1: The name of the fungi should be in italics. 


Response 1: All the names of the Tricholoma Matsutake in the paper have become italics.

Point 2: References provided are not directly related to the topic; some are not correctly written; The Abstract and the "Discussion and Conclusion" are significantly different. IoT did not appear as a keyword, in the abstract or in the title, but it is referred in the introduction as a key aspect of the work as well as at the "Discussion and Conclusion

Response 2: I have added several references and the revised Abstract section is as follows：

Abstract: Tricholoma Matsutake is a special type of fungus known as "the king of bacteria", and has the very high economic value. However, it is also very difficult to transport due to its corruptibility. Therefore, tracing and tracking the quality and safety of T. Matsutake in the cold chain is very important and necessary. Based on changes in the cold chain environmental parameters determine the safety of T. Matsutake is a viable option. This paper developed and tested a Real-time Monitoring Traceability System (RM-TM) using emerging Internet of Things (IoT) technologies for monitoring the cold chain logistics environmental parameters of T. Matsutake. Finally, system testing and evaluation have shown that RM-TM can track and monitor temperature, humidity, oxygen and carbon dioxide fluctuations in the cold chain in real-time. In addition, the collected data can be used to increase the transparency of cold chain logistics and to more effectively control quality, safety and traceability. In general, the system evaluation results show that it is reliable and meets the requirements of users.

Point 3: At the end of the Introduction the authors make reference to "Future work", but nothing is referred to later on; Discussion is too short.

Response 3: The revised Discussion and Conclusion section is as follows

Discussion and Conclusion.

This study analyzes the supply chain model of Tricholoma Matsutake and describes the whole process of the cold chain of Tricholoma Matsutake. According to actual requirements, this article presents a wireless monitoring and intelligent traceability system (RM-TM) using emerging IoT technologies. Finally, the system was evaluated and tested by tracking the Tricholoma Matsutake cold chain logistics.

·        RM-TM test and evaluation results show that RM-TM can effectively trace and monitor the real-time humidity, temperature, oxygen, and carbon dioxide fluctuations, which increase the traceability and transparency of the cold chain microenvironment.

·        After the power consumption test, the Multi-parameter Information Acquisition and Fusion Device can meet the power consumption requirements of Tricholoma Matsutake cold chain logistics by extending the sleep time and reducing the acquisition frequency of the device.

·        The implementation of the RM-TM can make the key parameters of the Tricholoma Matsutake cold chain logistics micro-environment tracked in real-time, which provides data information and decision-making for the managers. Further, the quality loss of the Tricholoma Matsutake can be reduced, and the economic benefit is increased.

Based on the user's evaluation of the RM-TM and higher requirements, we also discussed the future work of RM-TM improvements and upgrades.

·        The size of CO2 and O2 sensors used in the RM-TM are bulky, which makes it difficult to install the sensors in a small package of Tricholoma Matsutake. Meanwhile, the price of the CO2 and O2 sensors are too expensive to be widely used. Therefore, the future work should integrate micro-gas sensor technology into RM-TM to reduce the size of the device and economic costs.

·        The system has realized the real-time monitoring of the cold chain micro-environment of Tricholoma Matsutake, but has not yet realized real-time monitoring of the quality of Tricholoma Matsutake. Therefore, the future work should establish a gas-quality coupling model to achieve real-time monitoring of the quality of the Tricholoma Matsutake.

This research makes important contributions to the wider applications of IoT in food supply chain operation and management. Besides, the approaches and processes developed for the system design and implementation of RM-TM can be adopted by other researchers and practitioners in cold chain management.

Point 4: The authors should refer to Tricholoma matsutake as also important in many other parts of the world.

Response 4: I have added a reference to illustrate Tricholoma matsutake as also important in all the world.

Meanwhile, T. Matsutake is the most valuable species throughout the world, exhibiting a characteristic and delicate flavor as well as several biological activities [5]

Point 5: Real-time and real time used on both formats (with and without hyphen across the manuscript). The correct should be like used in the title. 

Table 3 has CO2 and not CO2. And the same for other gases.

Response 5: I have corrected these errors

Table 2. Performance indicators of device

Table 3. The main component power consumption of the device

Point 6: Quality of Figures must improve (e.g., Figure 4 has component details that are impossible to read,  that are Figure 6 has vertical text that is difficult to read, etc).

Response 6: The modified images are as shown in PDF file.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 2 Report

Dear Authors,

the manuscript still needs additional review. There are a number of issues with the quality of the English and I can't emphasise enough how important is to have a native english speaker reviewing this manuscript. Some parts of figures are impossible to read and must be improved (e.g., Figure 4). 

Note the authors don't know how to use scientific names. While they corrected using italics, they should use the second name not in capitals. For example:

Tricholoma matsutake 

other examples are:

Apis mellifera

Gorilla gorilla

Ailuropoda melanoleuca

The 'second name' should not be in capital letters. 

IoT should be listed as a keyword. 

You have a very nice piece of technical work at hand, very relevant to the scientific community and to industry in general, and I would strongly encourage you to review the manuscript. 

Kind regards, 

Author Response

Dear reviewer,

Thank you very much for your valuable suggestions.

Based on these suggestions, I have completed the paper revision work, and as follows:

Point 1: There are a number of issues with the quality of the English and I can't emphasise enough how important is to have a native english speaker reviewing this manuscript.  


Response 1: I got help from a native english speaker and, with her help, completed the revision of this manuscript.

Point 2: Some parts of figures are impossible to read and must be improved (e.g., Figure 4).

Response 2: I have modified Figure 4 to make it more legible and readable.

Point 3: Note the authors don't know how to use scientific names. While they corrected using italics, they should use the second name not in capitals. IoT should be listed as a keyword.

Response 3: All the names of the Tricholoma Matsutake in the paper have become Tricholoma matsutake. And IoT has been listed as a keyword

Kind regards,

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf