Brix is a measurement of the sugar concentration in plant sap or fruit juice. It’s expressed in degrees (°Bx) and represents the percentage of dissolved solids — primarily sugars, but also amino acids, proteins, and minerals — in the solution.
For example:
- 1°Bx = 1 gram of sugar in 100 grams of solution.
Brix is widely used as an indicator of:
- Produce quality (e.g. sweetness in fruits like tomatoes, strawberries)
- Plant health and energy levels
- Nutrient uptake efficiency
- Photosynthetic activity
High Brix often correlates with:
- Better flavor and shelf life
- Stronger pest resistance
- Greater resilience to stress
Brix is typically measured using:
- Handheld refractometers (for sap or juice)
- Digital Brix meters
- Inline sensors (emerging tech for continuous monitoring)
In field settings, sap is extracted from leaves or stems and placed on the refractometer lens. A reading is taken in °Bx.
ElecSys Lab integrates Brix monitoring into its research workflows to:
- Track plant response to nutrient and light changes
- Validate fertigation strategies (e.g., high Brix = better nutrient uptake)
- Assess crop quality during different environmental conditions
- Support varietal trials and pre-harvest decision making
We are currently experimenting with:
- Non-destructive Brix estimation using near-IR sensors and AI models
- Correlating Brix with GDD, EC, and photosynthetic light response
- Real-time sap Brix mapping under variable lighting and CO₂ conditions
- Crop Selection & Evaluation: Identify high-performance cultivars under different setups
- Harvest Timing: Optimize sweetness or starch content for market demands
- Nutrient Feedback: Fine-tune EC levels or elemental ratios based on Brix response
- Pest Management: Plants with low Brix are often more vulnerable to insects
- Brix-GDD hybrid growth models for crop forecasting
- Integration with ElecSys smart dosing and lighting logic
- Sensor-based early detection of nutrient stress or imbalance
- Linking Brix with transpiration and VPD to guide irrigation logic
Brix is more than just a measure of sweetness — it's a proxy for how well the plant is functioning.
In precision farming, tracking Brix helps us close the loop between environment, input, and outcome.