Article

Design of a Smart IoT-Based Control System for Remotely

Managing Cold Storage Facilities
Maged Mohammed 1,2,*, Khaled Riad 3,4 and Nashi Alqahtani 1,5

1 Date Palm Research Center of Excellence, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa 31982, Saudi Arabia;
nalqahtani@kfu.edu.sa
2 Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, Menoufia University,

Shebin El Koum 32514, Egypt

3 Department of Computer Science, College of Computer Sciences and Information Technology,

King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa 31982, Saudi Arabia; kriad@kfu.edu.sa

4 Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Science, Zagazig University, Zagazig 44519, Egypt

5 Department of Food and Nutrition Sciences, College of Agricultural and Food Sciences,

King Faisal University, P.O. Box 420, Al-Ahsa 31982, Saudi Arabia
* Correspondence: memohammed@kfu.edu.sa

Abstract: Cold storage is deemed one of the main elements in food safety management to maintain
food quality. The temperature, relative humidity (RH), and air quality in cold storage rooms (CSRs)
should be carefully controlled to ensure food quality and safety during cold storage. In addition,
the components of CSR are exposed to risks caused by the electric current, high temperature sur-
rounding the compressor of the condensing unit, snow and ice accumulation on the evaporator coils,
and refrigerant gas leakage. These parameters affect the stored product quality, and the real-time
sending of warnings is very important for early preemptive actionability against the risks that may
cause damage to the components of the cold storage rooms. The IoT-based control (IoT-BC) with
multipurpose sensors in food technologies presents solutions for postharvest quality management
of fruits during cold storage. Therefore, this study aimed to design and evaluate a IoT-BC system to
Citation: Mohammed, M.; Riad, K.; remotely control, risk alert, and monitor the microclimate parameters, i.e., RH, temperature, CO2,
Alqahtani, N. Design of a Smart C2H4, and light and some operating parameters, i.e., the temperature of the refrigeration compres-
IoT-Based Control System for sor, the electrical current, and the energy consumption for a modified CSR (MCSR). In addition, the
Remotely Managing Cold Storage impacts of the designed IoT-BC system on date fruit quality during cold storage were investigated
Facilities. Sensors 2022, 22, 4680. compared with a traditional CSR (TCSR) as a case study. The results showed that the designed IoT-
https://doi.org/10.3390/s22134680
BC system precisely controlled the MCSR, provided reliable data about the interior microclimate
Academic Editor: Raffaele Bruno atmosphere, applied electrical current and energy consumption of the MCSR, and sent the necessary
alerts in case of an emergency based on real-time data analytics. There was no significant effect of
Received: 17 May 2022
the storage time on the most important quality attributes for stored date fruit in the MCSR com-
Accepted: 20 June 2022
Published: 21 June 2022
pared with the TCSR. As a result, the MCSR maintained high-quality attributes of date fruits during
cold storage. Based on the positive impact of the designed IoT-BC system on the MCSR and stored
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neu-
fruit quality, this modification seems quite suitable for remotely managing cold storage facilities.
tral with regard to jurisdictional
claims in published maps and institu-
Keywords: internet of things (IoT); sensors; microcontroller; monitoring; micro-climate; control;
tional affiliations.
ThingSpeak; ESP8266; Arduino; date fruit quality; food preservation; energy; electrical power

Copyright: © 2022 by the authors. Li-

censee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
1. Introduction
This article is an open access article Date fruit (Phoenix dactylifera L.) is cultivated on a 1.25 million hectares area of the
distributed under the terms and con- world with an annual production of 9.61 Mt, whereas in Saudi Arabia, its cultivated area
ditions of the Creative Commons At- is 0.15 million hectares producing a 1.54 Mt yield [1]. Most fruits of date palm cultivars
tribution (CC BY) license (https://cre- are consumed at the fully ripen stage, known as the Tamr stage [2,3]. The stored fruit
ativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). products are usually accompanied by respiration, evaporation, and physiological changes

Sensors 2022, 22, 4680. https://doi.org/10.3390/s22134680 www.mdpi.com/journal/sensors

Sensors 2022, 22, 4680 2 of 30

due to moisture losses, which could induce heavy losses reaching up to 40%. Therefore,
suitable storage facilities are essential for extending the shelf life of date fruits [4]. On the
other hand, cold storage systems maintain the quality of agricultural products by reduc-
ing moisture loss and slowing physiological changes [5]. Therefore, cold storage tech-
niques are used widely for perishable commodities such as fruits and vegetables to retain
their shelf life after harvest [6,7]. In addition, it prevents the growth of contaminating mi-
croorganisms and reduces the rate of biochemical changes in fresh produce [8,9]. The in-
creased use of cold storage facilities is due to the year-round availability of fresh produce
in the market. Moreover, the surfeit supply of fruits and vegetables in the market has a
negative impact on the income of the growers. Therefore, surplus fruits and vegetables
are stored to control price fluctuations and maintain the commodity’s availability in the
market [10]. Food type, general appearance, including any cosmetic damage, bruises, or
microbial contamination, the maturity stage, and the storage room temperature and RH
are all factors that influence the shelf life of fresh fruits in cold storage [11,12].
In the storage of fresh fruits, the temperature is closely correlated to respirational
rates. The respirational rates can be reduced by reducing the temperature to a particular
limit depending on the stored products. The lower respiration rates decrease the kinetics
of biochemical responses including those related to product quality [13]. In addition, the
temperature is an important parameter that affects the life of the food product by directly
impacting the rates of biochemical activities [14]. Through the process of respiration and
microbial degradation, the nutrients of the product are broken down into simpler com-
pounds which often cause the quantity and quality reduction in the foods [5]. All these
mentioned processes are highly dependent upon the storage temperature.
Fruits are stored at non-freezing temperatures to preserve tissue cells and prevent
cell structure disintegration and postharvest damage [15]. Therefore, fruits of the date
palm harvested at the Tamer stage are normally kept in non-freezing storage chambers to
prolong their shelf-life [16]. Refrigeration or cold storage is the most common method
used to increase the shelf life of dates [17]. Fruit weight loss and microbial degradation,
such as yeast and bacterial fermentation and postharvest fungal infections, are the most
significant factors restricting date fruit storage [18]. Therefore, temperature and RH
should be carefully considered when storing date palm fruits to extend their postharvest
life and commercialization period [9]. Low-temperature storage also protects non-aes-
thetic quality characteristics of fruits, such as texture, nutrition, aroma, and flavor [19].
Date fruits need to be kept at low temperatures immediately after harvesting to slow
down the growth of microorganisms and insect activity responsible for quality deteriora-
tion. In addition, low temperature minimizes the vapor pressure between the outer at-
mosphere and the product, reducing the water loss from the fruits [20].
The modern multi-target concept of food preservation is becoming more attractive
with recent technologies to maintain their quality during storage [9,21]. The fruit preser-
vation is presently a multidisciplinary science to best disease control with the desired
physicochemical characteristics for quality maintenance as long as possible [22,23]. The
Internet of things (IoT) facilitates real-time monitoring of the system’s environment in
many areas. It allows the systems to respond suitably and timely [24]. The applications of
IoT-Based multipurpose sensors for food technologies have paved the way for intelligent
food quality management. These integrated technologies can give reliable data on the
quality of food products during their storage duration [25]. IoT in cold storage aims to
monitor parameters that affect the stored product quality and preserve it from contami-
nation due to surrounding conditions. The most important parameters are RH, tempera-
ture, alcohol gases, and light in cold storage rooms and warehouses [26,27].
There are some challenges for the cold storage monitoring systems, such as support-
ing distinct requirements for various products, tracking products and labeling, real-time
monitoring, minimizing human intervention, and monitoring of various parameters.
There are various attempts to integrate IoT with cold storage, and each of them has its
own contribution. Afreen and Bajwa [28] presented a real-time intelligent monitoring and
Sensors 2022, 22, 4680 3 of 30

notification system (RT-IMNS) based on IoT to introduce real-time monitoring of im-

portant parameters such as temperature, luminosity, humidity, and gas concentration in
cold storage. The RT-IMNS can send notifications when exceeding some dangerous limits
for the measured parameters. Appasani et al. [29] proposed an advanced automated cold
storage system (ACSS). The authors monitored the temperature and humidity inside the
cold storage room. They considered these two parameters the most important for any cold
storage system. They introduced self-adaptable capabilities using a controller using a par-
ticle swarm optimization algorithm. Sarmah and Aruna [30] used heterogeneous IoT de-
vices and cloud services to track food quantity. The model accurately detects the food
quality and sends an alert in case of degradation. Umamaheswari et al. [31] proposed
smart cold storage that speeds up the supply chain. The scheme employed Raspberry Pi-
3 B+ in combination with some sensors. This scheme can detect and identify the objects
inside the smart cold storage using a web camera. Additionally, a load cell with HX711 IC
have been used to weight the objects inside the smart cold storage. Feng et al. [32] intro-
duced an evaluation of an IoT-based monitoring system (IoTMS) for cold storage. The
IoTMS introduced an electronic nose to detect food spoilage. The authors used this elec-
tronic nose to detect some parameters for the salmon samples. This scheme also used the
convolutional neural networks and support vector machine to classify the levels of fresh-
ness. Srivatsa et al. [33] were motivated by the need for perishable goods to travel thou-
sands of miles until they reached their destination. They introduced an endless real-time
monitoring system using IoT that controls the losses which occur for businesses for 7645
storage facilities in India.
The efficient monitoring and control of the temperature and RH in the internal at-
mosphere of cold storage rooms leads to preserving date quality and reducing water loss
during storage [9]. Ganjewar et al. [34] protected the food from getting spoiled by intro-
ducing real-time monitoring and control system. They employed IoT and adaptive Naïve
Bayes prediction to preserve the food from being spoiled. They collected the data from
the IoT sensors and executed projections on it. This scheme is interested in environmental
parameters such as temperature, moisture, RH, and light. Yadav et al. [27] used Raspberry
pi as a monitoring node with python’s programming language. The Raspberry Pi board
is interfaced with multi-sensors of MQ3 to determine alcohol contents, LDR to determine
the light intensity, and DHT11 to measure the temperature and RH. Mishra et al. [35] de-
veloped a low-cost solar-powered smart cold storage. They used a modified split air con-
ditioner for cold storage. This low-cost cold storage supports automatic remote monitor-
ing using IoT sensors. Zhan et al. [36] employed industrial IoT and unsupervised learning
to develop an intelligent real-time occupational safety monitoring system for cold storage.
They used a stacked auto-encoder to track abnormal stationary detection in cold storage.
Additionally, they provided enhanced spatial-temporal traceability by using some intel-
ligent services. Finally, they introduced real-life air cargo cold storage as a case study.
Gautham et al. [37] employed machine learning and IoT to build an ultrasonic humidifi-
cation control system to extend the longevity of fruits and vegetables. In this scheme, the
IoT provides visual feedback for the current levels for some parameters of interest.
In the previous studies, they only monitored the microclimate atmosphere of CSRs
using the IoT regarding temperature and humidity. However, the microclimate atmos-
phere of CSRs consists of other gases that must be monitored, such as CO2 and C2H4, to
maintain the quality of stored products and the health of workers. Moreover, if the main
door of the CSR is left open it causes outside air to flow inside the CSR which changes the
temperature, relative humidity, and gas concentrations inside the CSR and increases the
power consumption. Previous studies also have shown that the humidification of CSRs
using ultrasonic humidifiers has the possibility to improve the quality of the stored prod-
uct. Real-time remote control and malfunction alerts for the microclimate atmosphere of
CSRs and their equipment, i.e., evaporator unit, condensing unit, control unit, humidifi-
cation unit, and defrost unit are needed to maintain the CSR and quality of stored prod-
ucts. So, when sudden malfunctions occur in the CSR equipment and the control system
Sensors 2022, 22, 4680 4 of 30

fails to solve the problem or the user leaves the light or door open for more than the pre-
defined Setpoints time the IoT system should give notification with an alarm for main-
taining food quality and energy saving. In addition, compressor temperatures and elec-
trical energy consumption must be carefully monitored and controlled so that appropriate
actions can be taken in real-time. Accordingly, there is still a need to design a modern,
low-cost, viable system for controlling, providing visual feedback on the current data for
CSR microclimate and its equipment, and sending warning alerts for reducing post-har-
vest losses and storage issues.
Therefore, this study aimed to design and implement a smart IoT-BC system to re-
motely control, alert, and real-time monitor the interior microclimate, i.e., relative humid-
ity, temperature, CO2, C2H4, and light and some operating parameters, i.e., the tempera-
ture of the refrigeration compressor, the electrical current, and the energy consumption of
a CSR to extend shelf life and maintain high-quality attributes of stored fruit and support
components of cold storage facilities. In addition, evaluating the designed IoT-BC system
regarding its performance, operating the modified CSR, and its impact on stored date fruit
quality compared to the traditional CSR.

2. Materials and Methods

2.1. Cold Storage Rooms Description
The experiment was conducted using two similar cold storage rooms CSRs estab-
lished at the Date Palm Research Center of Excellence (DPRC), King Faisal University
(KFU), Saudi Arabia. One of these CSRs was remotely controlled and monitored by the
designed cloud-based IoT system (IoT-BC), and the second was left with its traditional
control. Figure 1 shows the main components of the CSR, which consisted of a thermally
insulated cold room, evaporator unit, condensing unit, control unit, humidification unit,
and defrost unit. The internal measures of the cold room were 5.8 m in length, 2.9 m in
width, and 2.9 m in height.

Figure 1. The main component of the cold storage room (dimensions in m). (1) Control unit, (2)
storage shelves, (3) LED light bulbs, (4) cold air direction, (5) evaporator unit, (6) electrically oper-
ated expansion device, (7) condensing unit, (8) pressure transmitter, (9) ultrasonic humidifier, (10)
outputted mist (all dimensions in meters).
Sensors 2022, 22, 4680 5 of 30

The CSR walls and ceiling were made from polyurethane sandwich panels (PUSP)
with 0.12 thickness. The PUSP was composed of three layers. The internal and external
layers were two corrugated aluminum plates with a thickness of 0.01 m. The core layer
was high-density polyurethane foam with a thickness of 0.10 m. The evaporator (type:
EVAP.CAE3264 R417A, Carrier s.c.s. Co., Aubagne, France) is equipped with two fans 230
V/single-phase/60 Hz. The R417 A refrigerant (Type: CAE3264, −40/38 °C min/max) was
used in the cooling system of the CSR. The condensing unit is equipped with a refrigera-
tion compressor 3 phase, 380–420 V/3-phase/60 Hz, and the nominal operating current
was 6.8 A (model DLEE-201-EWK, Emerson Climate Technologies Ltd., Mikulov, Czech
Republic). The control unit consisted of one 3-phase breaker, two single-phase breakers,
three contactors, a 24 h timer, and a digital temperature controller 230 VAC (model:
XR06CX, Dixell, Pieve d’Alpago, Italy). The control unit was used to control the operating
fans and CSR compressor. The CSR included three compact fluorescent light bulbs with a
total power of 75 W. The temperature inside the CSR was set at the target temperatures
before conducting the experiments using the controller supplied in the control unit of each
CSR.
The humidification unit was an ultrasonic humidifier with the same descriptions as
the designed ultrasonic humidifier by Mohammed et al. [9]. The ultrasonic humidifier was
used to control the relative humidity (RH) in the CSR. This humidifier consisted of ten
ultrasonic transducers, a water reservoir, an air fan, and a control unit. The ultrasonic
transducers were installed at the central bottom position of the reservoir. The frequency
of each ultrasonic transducer was 2600 kHz with a resonance impedance of 2 Ω, and the
operating temperature range was 0 to 50 °C. The humidifier reservoir was a rectangular
stainless-steel tank of 0.25 × 0.25 × 0.40 m. The fan flow rate ranged from 0 to 2.5 m3/min
with a maximum power consumption of 22 W, and the rated inputted voltage was 230
V/60 Hz. The RH was adjusted by the high-precision humidity control unit (MH13001
with a humidity sensor of INS121, Shenzhen Electronic Co., Ltd., Guangdong, China).
The accumulated frost on the surface of the evaporator coils hinders the distribution
and conduction of the cooling capacity of the refrigeration evaporator, which finally im-
pacts the cooling efficiency or deforms the evaporator. This problem leads to increasing
electrical energy consumption and reducing the service life of refrigeration system equip-
ment. Therefore, the benefit of the defrost unit is to defrost the accumulated frost to im-
prove the efficiency of the system cooling, ensuring the quality of stored products in the
storage room, saving electrical energy, and extending the service life of the cold storage
components. Therefore, the electric heating type (220 V, 200 W) was used for the defrost
unit CSRs. The heaters of the defrost unit were clamped directly to the evaporator coil and
operated by the control based on defrosting temperature sensor data to prevent the coils
from damaging by freezing water.

2.2. The IoT-Based Control System Architecture

The detailed workflow and communication among the different entities of the de-
signed IoT-based control system (IoT-BC) are shown in Figure 2. The figure shows the
modified cold storage room (MCSR) that was monitored and controlled remotely. In ad-
dition, a set of sensors and microcontrollers for collecting data were used to control and
monitor the selected parameters. The communication between the different entities is as
follows:
 The sensors periodically collected the data from different portions of the cold storage
room.
 The collected data were uploaded by the considered microcontrollers to our private
channel on ThingSpeak through Wi-Fi for control, monitoring, and alert purposes.
 The data analytics was accomplished on our ThingSpeak channel using MATLAB
Analysis App. According to the code written on MATLAB Analysis App, the desired
Sensors 2022, 22, 4680 6 of 30

action/control is sent in real-time to the designated microcontroller to be applied to

the cold storage room.
 The authenticated users can access our private ThingSpeak channel and monitor real-
time through graphical interfaces to all the measured parameters.
 Finally, two alerts (email and SMS) are sent to a designated administrator in case of
an emergency based on real-time data analytics. The email alert was done using the
MATLAB Analysis App. The SMS alert was accomplished using the ThingHTTP App
and our account on the Twilio website.

Figure 2. The system model of the designed IoT-BC.

The main goal of the designed IoT-BC is monitoring some critical parameters, i.e., the
atmosphere storage, controlling its work, and sending alerts in cases of emergency. There-
fore, the IoT-BC monitored the internal and external atmosphere temperature, internal
relative humidity (RH), Internal Carbon Dioxide concentration (CO2), internal ethylene
gas concentration (C2H4), internal ambient light, compressor temperature, electrical cur-
rent intensity, and electrical energy consumption.
The IoT-BC controlled the humidification unit based on the relative humidity levels,
the ventilation unit based on the CO2 and C2H4 levels, and the control unit based on the
internal atmosphere temperature, compressor temperature, and current intensity.
The alerting email and SMS were achieved for the following parameters:
 Internal temperature measured by the internal DHT22 sensor;
 Internal relative humidity measured by the internal DHT22 sensor;
 Internal carbon dioxide CO2 measured by the Senseair-S8 sensor;
 Internal ethylene gas C2H4 measured by the MQ-3 sensor;
 Internal ambient light measured by the BH1750 sensor;
 Compressor temperature measured by the DS1822-PAR sensor
 The applied current intensity measured by three current meters.

2.2.1. IoT-BC Hardware Layout

This section introduces the schematic diagrams in IoT-BC, the description of the used
sensors, and the calibration of the sensor. The hardware layout has been implemented
Sensors 2022, 22, 4680 7 of 30

using KiCad version 6.0 installed on MacBook Pro (3.3 GHz Intel Core i7) to draw the
expected IoT-BC schematic and confirm the electrical rules check, as shown in Figure 3.
KiCad has been used for its ability to handle and maintain various and complex electronic
circuits. For example, two circuits were used to monitor and control the controlled atmos-
phere storage: one circuit for the internal atmosphere storage, and the second circuit for
the compressor operations.

Figure 3. The detailed schematic KiCad diagram with successful electrical rules check for the inter-
nal sensors. D is a diode, ESP8266 is a NodeMCU board, GND is the ground, Q is transistor (BC547),
R is a resistor, RV rheostat, T1 and T2 are temperature sensors (DS1822), T&RH is temperature and
relative humidity sensor (DHT22), LCD is a liquid crystal display (RC1602A-GHW-ESX), S is sensor
and Hum is humidification.

Figure 1 introduces the detailed KiCad diagram for the set of considered sensors after
running an electrical rules check. As shown in this figure, the description part consists of
the following items:
 Comments related to the connected peripherals:
Comment 1: The CO2-Alarm beeps when the CO2 value reaches 0.045%.
Comment 2: GPIO 5 is the output for the internal temperature measured by the
DHT22.
Comment 3: GPIO 10 is the output for the ventilation unit based on the CO2 and Al-
cohol.
Comment 4: GPIO 16 is the output for the humidification based on the humidity
level.
The details of the connected peripherals in our IoT-BC are as follows:
Sensors 2022, 22, 4680 8 of 30

 ESP8266 NodeMCU board: We used one ESP8266 NodeMCU board. It is used to in-
terface the IoT-BC peripherals with the Internet and the cloud platform. Several 24
pins have been used to connect the ESP8266 with the IoT-BC sensors and actuators.
There are six empty pins between power and multiplexed GPIO pins that can be used
for future scaling purposes using the same board.
 DS1822-PAR Sensor: It is a single-wire distributed temperature sensor. It is based on
the multidrop capability that simplifies distributed temperature sensing applica-
tions. Therefore, it does not need any external components. Its measurement range is
from −55 °C ± 100 °C. Two DS1822-PAR sensors have been employed in the IoT-BC.
They have been connected to GPIO2 and GPIO14.
 DHT22 Sensor: It is a low-cost digital temperature and relative humidity sensor. Its
temperature range is −40–80 °C. Its RH range is 0–100%. It reads a new measure every
2 s. Two DHT22 have been employed in the IoT-BC. They have been connected to
GPIO12 and GPIO13.
 Senseair-S8 (004-0-0075) Sensor: It is a commercial miniature infrared CO2 sensor. Its
measurement range is 400–2000 ppm. It reads a new measure every 2 s. It is equipped
with two output pins—an alarm output and a 1 kHz PWM output. One Senseair-S8
sensor has been employed in the IoT-BC. It has been connected to the UART pins
(GPIO1 and GPIO3) and one digital pin (GPIO5).
 BH1750 Sensor: It is a digital ambient light sensor. It has been interfaced with the
ESP8266 module using the I2C serial interface. It has been connected to MOSI and
SCLK pins. It is used to sense the light inside the CCSA.
 MQ-3 Sensor: It is a sensitive gas sensor. It is used in IoT-BC to detect the existence
of ethylene gas (C2H4). Once the ethylene alcohol gas exists, the sensor’s conductivity
gets higher, and the gas concentration rises. Two MQ-3 sensors have been used in
IoT-BC. They have been connected with the ESP8266 module through GPIO9 and
GPIO10.
 G5Q-1A Electrical Relay: Three G5Q-1A electrical relays have been used in IoT-BC.
They are connected to GPIO4, GPIO5, and GPIO16. The first relay (connected to
GPIO5) controls the temperature inside the IoT-BC. The second relay (connected to
GPIO16) controls the humidification unit in the IoT-BC. Finally, the third relay (con-
nected to GPIO4) controls the ventilation unit in the IoT-BC.
 RC1602A-GHW-ESX LCD: It is the only LCD used in IoT-BC. It is mainly used to
display some information related to doing action on a real-time basis. It has been
connected with the ESP8266 module through CS, SCLK, and GPIO0.
Figure 4 introduces the detailed KiCad diagram for the set of considered current me-
ters and sensors after running electrical rules check for all of them. As shown in this figure,
the description part consists of the following items:
 Comments related to the connected peripherals:
 Comment 1: A current transformer is used with some resistances to measure the cur-
rent.
 Comment 2: Three current meters are used for the compressor.
 Comment 3: Two current meters are used for the condensing and control unit.
 The number of sheets and the file name (Cloud_CAS_2.kicad_sch).
 The title of this schematic diagram (Cloud-Controlled Atmosphere Storage (IoT-
BC)—Current Meter).
Sensors 2022, 22, 4680 9 of 30

Figure 4. The detailed schematic KiCad diagram with successful electrical rules checks for the cur-
rent meters and power control. C is a capacitor, D is a diode, GND is the ground, Q is transistor
(BC547), R is a resistor, RV rheostat, TC1 and TC2 are temperature sensors of the compressor
(DS1822), LCD is a liquid crystal display (RC1602A-GHW-ESX), CT-1, CT-2 and CT-3 is the current
meter of the compressor, CT-4 is the current meter of the condensing unit, CT-5 is the current meter
of the control unit, WI-FI is a Wi-Fi module (ESP-01090).

Moreover, the details of the connected peripherals in the current control schematic
are as follows:
 Arduino UNO R3: It is a microcontroller board based on ATmega328P. It provides
14 digital input/output pins and six analog pins.
 ESP-01v090: It is a Wi-Fi module from ESPressif. It connects the Arduino board to the
Internet. It is interfaced with the Arduino board through Tx and Rx pins.
 Current meter: The employed current meter comprises one current transformer, one
capacitor, one 33-ohm burden resistor, and two 10–470 K-ohm potentiometers. Five
current meters have been connected to the Arduino UNO R3 board. They are con-
nected to the following analog pins A0, A1, A2, A3, and A4.
 DS1822-PAR Sensor: Two DS1822-PAR sensors have been employed in the current
control schematic. They have been connected to D7 and D8.

2.2.2. IoT-BC Software Layout

There are two codes used in the IoT-BC. The first one is used to monitor and con-
trol/alert the internal atmosphere storage (Figure 3), and the second one is used to monitor
and control/alert the current (Figure 4). For simplicity reasons, only the code used for con-
trolling the internal atmosphere storage is introduced here, as shown in Figure 5.
Sensors 2022, 22, 4680 10 of 30

The figure shows the code that will be repeatedly executed on the ESP8266 board to
monitor, control, and alert some of the main parameters considered in IoT-BC. The de-
tailed description of the main functions used in this code is as follows:
 IntializeSensors( ): This function is responsible for executing sensors’ calibration and
reset if needed. Each sensor is assigned a unique name in the introduced internal
control to the atmosphere storage. This unique name helps send instructions to the
sensors and collect the data from them.
 GetData( ): The readings will be collected from the sensors every 200 ms. This reading
interval is represented by the if condition “if (CurrentTime—LastGetTime >= Get-
Interval)”. Thus, every 200 ms, the GetData( ) collects the readings from the list of
sensors attached to the microcontroller. This process is accomplished based on each
sensor and its own configuration.
 Upload2ThingSpeak( ): This function is mainly used to send the collected reading
from the list of sensors to a private cloud channel on the ThingSpeak platform. This
upload stage is done in real-time. The real-time measures uploaded to the cloud
ThingSpeak platform are used for data analytics and sending alerts to a designated
administrator in case of emergency based on each measured parameter.
 Track( ): This function is considered local monitoring that shows the system activity.
All the readings collected from the sensors are displayed on the serial monitor at the
collection time. Additionally, in case of an emergency, the alert message is shown
multiple times on the serial monitor to alert the local investigator about the emer-
gency issue.
 Print2LCD( ): This function execute a similar task to that of Track( ) function. How-
ever, this function will show all the readings and alerts on the LCD.

Figure 5. The repeatedly executed code on the ESP8266 board.

2.3. Sensors Calibration

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires an accurate display for all devices
that have an impact on the quality of the stored product by their calibrating over a speci-
fied interval of time. The equipment calibration is also important to facilitate the storage
of many critical materials that demand a controlled modified atmosphere and security. In
order to comply with the international benchmarks, tested and calibrated CSR rooms (in-
cluding their cooling equipment) according to the Code of Federal Regulations Title 21
were used in this study [38]. The sensors used in IoT-BC have been calibrated to assure
their accuracy as follows:
Sensors 2022, 22, 4680 11 of 30

 To calibrate the temperature and humidity sensor DHT22 and the digital tempera-
ture sensors, a controlled atmosphere (temperature and RH) incubator (model:
PC900h, Helmer Scientific Inc., Noblesville, IN, USA) was used. The incubator at-
mosphere temperatures and RH were set at different values and the observed values
were compared with the values of the sensor’s readings.
 To calibrate the CO2 sensor, the reading of the Senseair-S8 sensor was compared with
the reading recorded by the indoor air CO2 m/datalogger (model: Extech EA80, FLIR
Commercial Systems Inc., Nashua, NH, USA) at a temperature of 5 C. A carbon di-
oxide cylinder containing 99.5% pure CO2 was used to add different concentrations
of CO2 in a closed room.
 To calibrate the ethylene MQ-3 sensor, a fruit ripening gas box containing 99.95%
pure ethylene (type: corrugated box of 96 Pc, MILAN JYOTI INTERNATIONAL
LTD, Mumbai, India) was used. The gas was sprayed in a closed cold room at a tem-
perature of 5 °C and the reading of the sensor was compared with the reading of a
portable ethylene gas detector (model: PG-100-C2H4, AMBETRONICS ENGINEERS
PVT LTD., Mumbai, India).
 To calibrate the light intensity BH1750 sensor, the reading of the sensor was com-
pared with the reading recorded by the light intensity meter/datalogger (model: Ex-
tech EA33, FLIR Commercial Systems Inc., Nashua, NH, USA). Calibration was car-
ried out using the LED light source with variable intensity of illumination in the cool-
ing room at a temperature of 5 °C.
 To calibrate the current intensity Load_CellX03 with HX711 amplifier, power, and
electrical energy consumption, the reading of the current sensor, calculated power,
and calculated energy consumption were compared with the reading recorded by
three-phase power and harmonics clamp meter (UNI-T, UT243, Uni-Trend Technol-
ogy Co., Ltd. Dongguan, Guangdong, China) under different current intensities con-
sumed by a heater coil.

2.4. Control and Alert

IoT-BC’s control and the alert system have been introduced to control the compres-
sor, the ventilation unit, and the humidification unit. As well as sending alerts to a desig-
nated administrator based on the measures of some sensors. Moreover, sending an alert
based on the light level inside the atmosphere storage. In comparison to the Supervisory
Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system which is very similar to the designed IoT-
BC. The SCADA system could remotely control huge industrial processes in real-time
based on high-level software applications. Additionally, a trained user is needed to use
the SCAD system. Thus, the SCADA system is most suitable for the high cost and huge
industrial facilities, as it is very expensive. The SCADA system also needs huge computa-
tional resources to work properly. On the other hand, the designed IoT-BC could achieve
the same objectives as the SCADA system with low cost for the small to medium-sized
industrial facilities. Moreover, the designed IoT-BC requires a simple IoT microcontroller
and sensors along with a free cloud platform. Additionally, the normal user can use IoT-
BC’s interface as it is very simple and easy to use.
The alert in IoT-BC is an email and SMS for a designated administrator through our
private channel on the ThingSpeak cloud platform. The configuration for sending an email
is achieved using MATLAB Analysis App on ThingSpeak. Where a MATLAB code is writ-
ten in the MTLAB Analysis App for each controlled parameter. Additionally, the config-
uration of sending an SMS using ThingSpeak and the Twilio website is shown in Figure
6. The figure shows the detailed configuration for sending an SMS as an alert by using the
Twilio website and ThingHTTP App on our private channel on the ThingSpeak cloud
platform.
Sensors 2022, 22, 4680 12 of 30

Figure 6. The detailed configuration for using ThingHTTP and Twilio website to send an alert SMS
to a designated administrator.

2.4.1. Compressor Control and Alert Mechanism

The process of controlling the compressor in the MCSR has been accomplished based
on three main parameters:
 Internal Temperature (T): It is shown in Figure 7. The flowchart (Figure 7a) turns the
compressor on when the internal temperature reaches the maximum setpoint (T is
greater than or equal 7 °C). The IoT-BC will send an email and SMS to a designated
administrator to alert if the internal temperature remains greater than the maximum
temperature set point for 30 min after turning the compressor on. The flowchart (Fig-
ure 7b) turns the compressor off when the internal temperature reaches and remains
at the minimum temperature setpoint (T is smaller than or equal 3 °C) for 30 min.
The IoT-BC would send an email and SMS to a designated administrator as an alert
if the internal temperature remained smaller than the minimum temperature set
point for 30 min after turning the compressor off.
Sensors 2022, 22, 4680 13 of 30

Figure 7. The compressor control and alert based on the internal temperature (T) measured by the
DHT22 sensor. (a) The control and alert based on the maximum setpoint. (b). The control and alert
based on the minimum setpoint.

 Compressor Temperature (CT): It is shown in Figure 8. This figure cares about the
compressor temperature. The compressor will be turned off if its temperature reaches
the maximum compressor temperature setpoint (CT is greater than or equal to 100
°C) for 5 min. For example, suppose the compressor temperature remained greater
than or equal to 100 °C for 5 min after turning the compressor off. In that case, the
IoT-BC will send an email and SMS to a designated administrator as an alert.

Figure 8. The compressor control and alert based on the compressor temperature (CT) measured by
the DS1822-PAR sensor.
Sensors 2022, 22, 4680 14 of 30

 Current Meters (CM): It is shown in Figure 9. This figure controls the compressor
on/off based on the measures of three current meters (CM1, CM2, and CM3). The
three current meters must record the normal range of 4 A to 7 A. If the normal range
for the three current meters is satisfied, then IoT-BC must make sure that the absolute
difference between any of the three current meters is not greater than or equal to 1 A.
Thus, the compressor must keep working normally, and there is no problem. How-
ever, suppose the normal range condition is true and the differences between any of
the three current meters are greater than or equal to 1 A. In that case, IoT-BC will
wait for 1 min and then recheck the differences in the current measures. If the differ-
ences in the current measures are still greater than or equal to 1 A, the IoT-BC will
turn the compressor off and send an email and SMS to a designated administrator as
an alert. If the normal range condition is false, IoT-BC will check if any of the three
current meters is greater than or equal to 10 A. Then, IoT-BC will wait for 1 min before
rechecking the same condition. If the measure for one of the current meters remained
greater than or equal to 1 A for one minute, The IoT-BC will turn the compressor off
and send an email and SMS to a designated administrator as an alert.

Figure 9. The compressor control and alert based on three current meters measures (CM1, CM2, and
CM3).

2.4.2. Humidification Unit’s Control and Alert Mechanism

Sensors 2022, 22, 4680 15 of 30

The process of controlling the humidification unit in the MCSR has been accom-
plished based on the internal relative humidity (RH) measured by the DHT22 sensor, as
shown in Figure 10. This figure is composed of two subgraphs:
o Figure 10a: This flowchart turns the humidifier on when the internal RH reaches the
minimum humidity setpoint (RH is smaller than or equal to 65%). The IoT-BC would
send an email and SMS to a designated administrator as an alert if the internal hu-
midity remained smaller than the minimum humidity set point for 30 min after turn-
ing the humidifier on.
o Figure 10b: This flowchart turns the humidifier off when the internal humidity
reaches and remains at the maximum humidity setpoint (RH is greater than or equal
to 90%) for 30 min. The IoT-BC would send an email and SMS to a designated ad-
ministrator as an alert if the internal humidity remained greater than the maximum
humidity set point for 30 min after turning the humidifier off.

Figure 10. The Humidification unit control and alerts based on the relative humidity (RH) measured
data by the DHT22 sensor. (a) The control and alert based on the minimum setpoint. (b). The control
and alert based on the maximum setpoint.

2.4.3. Ventilation Unit Control and Alert Mechanism

The process of controlling the ventilation unit in the MCSR has been accomplished
based on two main parameters:
o Internal Carbon Dioxide (CO2): It is shown in Figure 11a. This flowchart turns the
ventilation unit on when the internal CO2 reaches the maximum CO2 Setpoint (CO2 is
greater than or equal to 0.045%). The IoT-BC would send an email and SMS to a des-
ignated administrator to alert if the internal CO2 remained greater than the maximum
CO2 Setpoint for 30 min after turning the ventilation unit on.
Sensors 2022, 22, 4680 16 of 30

Figure 11. The control and alert based on three measured parameters. (a) The ventilation unit control
and alerts based on the CO2 level measured by the Senseair-S8 sensor. (b). The ventilation unit con-
trol and alerts are based on the C2H4 level measured by the MQ-3 sensor. (c) The light alert is based
on the light level measured by the BH1750 sensor.

o Internal Ethylene Gas (C2H4): It is shown in Figure 11b. This flowchart turns the ven-
tilation unit on when the internal C2H4 reaches the maximum C2H4 Setpoint (C2H4 is
greater than or equal to 0.02%). The IoT-BC would send an email and SMS to a des-
ignated administrator as an alert if the internal C2H4 remained greater than the max-
imum C2H4 set point for 30 min after turning the ventilation unit on.

2.4.4. Light Alert Mechanism

The IoT-BC will send an email and SMS to a designated administrator as an alert if
the internal light remains greater than the maximum light set point (L is greater than or
equal to 5 Lux) for 30 min, as shown in Figure 11c.

2.5. Energy Consumption

The voltage, current intensity, and power factor for TCSR were measured using a real
RMS digital power and harmonics clamp meter (UNI-T UT243, Sinotronics Co., Ltd., Gui-
zhou, China). The clamp meters were wired to a laptop for real-time data logging. The
following equations were used to estimate the power and energy consumption:
P = V( ) ×I×P (1)

P = √3 × V( ) ×I×P (2)

E = (P × T ) + (P × T ) (3)
where P is the actual power consumption for a single-phase, P is the actual power con-
sumption for 3 phases, V( ) is the voltage (line to neutral), V( ) is the voltage (line to
line), I is the current intensity, and P is the power factor (P = cos φ), P ≃ 0.94 in the
experimental site, E is the total energy consumption, and T1 and T2 are the actual operat-
ing time.

2.6. Tested Date Fruits

The yield of thirty date palm trees (Khalas cv.) were selected for this study from the
experimental farms of the DPRC at the Agricultural Training and Research Station, KFU,
Sensors 2022, 22, 4680 17 of 30

SA (Latitude: 25.267690° N, Longitude: 49.708162° E). All selected date palm trees were
almost the same age (16 years) and uniform in growth and were subjected to the same
agricultural treatments. The fruits of these palm trees were harvested at a fully ripened
stage (Tamr). Immediately after harvesting, the fruits with good characteristics and free
from insect damage were transported to the postharvest laboratory at the DPRC. The
fruits were sorted and cleaned using dry air and then divided into two similar groups
(The total weight was 800 kg). The fruits were packaged in 40 plastic crates with an inter-
nal size of 50 × 40 × 25 cm. Each crate has been filled with approximately 20 kg of date
fruit. The crates were stored immediately after packing in the two Cold Storage Rooms
CSRs, i.e., MCSR and TCSR. The MCSR and TCSR have the same storage temperature (5
°C), same size (482), and manufacturing materials.

2.7. Fruit Quality Measurements

The most important quality parameters of the stored date fruits were measured be-
fore and after cold storage to study the impact of a controlled atmosphere on fruit quality.
Therefore, the following physicochemical characteristics were measured immediately af-
ter harvesting at the Tamar stage (full ripened stage with brown color) and during cold
storage use. The tested fruits were randomly selected before and during cold storage from
different locations in the MCSR and TCSR.
The fruit weights were measured using a digital balance (MSA225S, Sartorius Lab
Instruments GmbH Co, Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany). Fruit length (FL) and diam-
eter (FD) were measured using a digital vernier caliper. For determining the percentage
of fruit weight loss, the fruit samples were weighed before cold storage to obtain the initial
weight and after 1, 2, and 3 months to obtain the weight after cold storage. The following
equation was utilized to calculate the fruit weight loss:
W −W
FWL = × 100 (4)
W
where FWL is the fruit weight loss (%), W1 is the initial weight of the sample (g), W2 is the
weight of the same date sample after the target cold storage time (g).
The projected area (PA) of fruits was measured based on the image processing
method. A digital camera was used with a fixed height of 50 cm, and a light-emitting
diode (LED) source with a power of 20 W was used to adjust the lighting. First, the cap-
tured images were transferred to a laptop via a USB port; then, the images were processed
using the open-source image-processing software (ImageJ/Fiji 1.46) to determine the re-
quired parameters [39].
The fruit volume (FV) was estimated using the gas displacement method in an iso-
thermal system with a pressure of 200 kPa and a temperature of 22 °C. This method used
a cylinder with compressed air, an empty cylinder, and a treatment chamber made from
stainless steel with 0.01 cm thickness, a length of 100 cm, and an outer diameter of 40 cm
[40].
The fruit density (FD) was determined by dividing the mass of the sample by its vol-
ume, which was determined by the gas displacement methods. While the bulk density of
dates was determined by filling a container of 5000 cm3 volume with a date sample, the
date sample was weighted to measure its mass. The bulk density of the sample was cal-
culated by dividing the measured mass by 5000 cm3.
Fruit sphericity of was defined as the ratio of fruit volume to the sphere with a diam-
eter equal to the major length of the fruit. The fruit sphericity was determined using the
following equation [41]:

√l × w × t (5)
Ф=
l
where Ф is fruit sphericity, l, w, and t are the length, width, and thickness of the tested
fruit (mm), respectively.
Sensors 2022, 22, 4680 18 of 30

Fruit hardness was measured using a texture profile analyzer meter (TA.XTplus, Sta-
ble Micro Systems Ltd., Godalming, Surrey, UK) with a cylindrical puncture probe with a
7 mm diameter at room temperature (about 22 °C). The probe traveling speed was 0.5
mm/s, and the puncture distance was 5 mm. The maximum force was recorded during
the punching process to indicate the hardness of the stored date fruits.
The moisture content of fruits was determined by drying a sample of 150 g at 70˚C
under a vacuum for 48 h using the vacuum-drying oven (LVO-2041P, Daihan Labtech Co.,
Ltd., Namyangju-si, Gyeonggi-do, Korea) according to the standard methods of analysis
of AOAC [42].
The pH, total soluble solids (TSS), moisture content (MC), and water activity (Aw) of
the stored fruits were measured according to standard AOAC analysis methods [42]. The
laboratory pH meter (HI-99121, Hanna Instruments, Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, UK)
was used to determine the pH data. The laboratory refractometer (RFM 860, Bellingham
& Stanley Ltd., Kent, UK) was used to determine the TSS data. The portable water activity
device (Aqualab Series 3, Decagon Devices, Inc., Pullman, DC, USA) Aw was used to de-
termine the Aw data. A portable electronic moisture balance (Model MOC-120H, Shi-
madzu Corporation, Kyoto, Japan) was used to determine the MC data.
The color parameters of the fruits were determined based on CIELAB color space
using a Hunter Lab color meter (Quest-45/0 LAV, Hunter Associates Laboratory Inc.,
Reston, Virginia, USA). The color parameters were measured for each trial using 10 date
fruits selected randomly. Chroma, hue angle, and the color difference between the meas-
uring color parameters of fruit before and after storage time were calculated using the
following equations:
2
C2 = a + b2 (6)

C= a +b (7)

h° = arc tan b a if the value ≥ 0 (8)

h° = arc tan b a + 360 otherwise (9)

(1
∆E = (L − L ) + (a − a ) + (b − b )
0)
where L is the lightness, a is the red/green coordinate, b is the yellow/blue coordinate, C
is Chroma, h° is Hue angle (degree), a is redness, b is yellowness, and ΔE is a color differ-
ence.

2.8. Statistical Analysis

The statistical metrics were utilized to validate the accuracy of the used sensors by
comparing the measured values by the sensors with the reference value simultaneously
using standard instruments. These metrics included the determination coefficient, root
mean square error, and index of agreement. The determination coefficient (R-squared cor-
relation (R2) expresses the strength of the correlation between the measured data and the
observed data. The following formula expresses the R-value:
N (∑(XY) − (∑ X)(∑ Y)
R= (11)
(n ∑ X − (∑ X) )(n ∑ Y − (∑ Y) )
where R is Pearson correlation, N is the number of data points, X is the observed data, and
Y is the measured data.
Root mean square error (RMSE) compares the difference between measured values
by the sensor and the observed values measured by the standard instrument. The follow-
ing formula defines the RMSE:
Sensors 2022, 22, 4680 19 of 30

∑ (X − Y )
RMSE = (12)
N

where RMSE is the root mean square error, Xi is the observed data, Yi is the measured data, and N
is the number of data points.
The index of agreement (IOA) describes the ratio of the mean square error and the
potential error. The IOA varies between 0 and 1, which the agreement value of 0 indicating
no agreement at all and 1 indicating a perfect match.
∑ (X − Y )
IOA = 1 −
∑ Y −X + X −X (13)
0≤d≤1
where IOA is the index of agreement, Xo is the observed data, Ym is the measured data, X
is the average data observed.
The statistical analyses of the data were conducted at a 0.05 significance level by the
one-way analysis of variance ANOVA using the statistical analysis program of IBM SPSS
version 24 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). In addition, the Tukey test was used to determine
the least significant difference (LSD) between the experimental mean values at a 0.05 prob-
ability level.

3. Results and Discussion

3.1. Sensors Calibration
Some environmental factors, i.e., high-temperature levels, abnormal humidity condi-
tions, sudden degradation, shocks, etc., can affect the accuracy of the measured values for
the sensors used in MCSR. These factors let the sensors give inadequate measurements.
Therefore, there is an urgent need to apply sensor calibrations that are subject to most of
the mentioned factors to validate sensor measurements before use. In addition, the output
signals of the sensors need to calibrate against the reference standard instruments for pro-
ducing calibration curves that describe the responses of the sensors to the reference in-
strument data to ensure data acquisition quality [43,44].
Before deploying the sensors for the MCSR measurements, the sensors were cali-
brated against the suitable reference standard instruments. Table 1 shows the comparison
between the measured values and the reference values for temperature, RH, carbon diox-
ide (CO₂), ethylene gas sensor (C₂H₄), light intensity, current intensity, power, and energy
consumption using the standard statistical metrics of the Pearson correlation (R), deter-
mination coefficient (R2), root mean square error (RMSE), and index of agreement (IOA).
This table shows that the calibration of the used sensors achieved the required accuracy
within the target parameters based on the R, R², RMSE, and IOA, which had acceptable
values for the used sensors.

Table 1. Statistical metrics values of Pearson correlation (R), determination coefficient (R²), root
mean square error (RMSE), and index of agreement (IOA)resulting from comparing the measured
values of the temperature and RH sensor (DHT22), carbon dioxide (CO₂) sensor (Senseair-S8), eth-
ylene gas (C₂H₄) sensor (MQ-3), light intensity sensor (BH1750), current intensity sensor (CST2),
calculated power, and calculated electrical energy consumption with the reference values.

Statistical Metrics
Parameters
R R² RMSE IOA
Temperature 0.997 0.994 1.673 0.995
RH 0.867 0.752 10.18 0.927
CO₂ 0.983 0.966 0.004 0.99
C₂H₄ 0.991 0.982 0.004 0.989
Sensors 2022, 22, 4680 20 of 30

Light 0.995 0.990 26.05 0.997

Current 0.997 0.994 0.801 0.998
Power 0.997 0.993 175.3 0.998
Energy 0.996 0.992 257.2 0.997
The numbers of the measured points (n) were 200 values for all calibrated parameters.

The sensor calibrations have been applied for six sensors in IoT-BC, as shown in Fig-
ure 12 and Table 1. The observed values are plotted on the x-axis, and the measured values
are plotted on the y-axis for each calibration curve shown in Figure 6. The details of each
calibration curve are as follows:
 Figure 12a,b: These curves indicate the temperature and RH calibration. The meas-
ured temperature and RH using the DHT22 sensor have been validated with the ob-
served measurements by the incubator. The R, R2, RMSE, and IOA are shown on the
temperature and RH rows in Table 1, indicating a perfect match in the measured
temperature and RH with the observed temperature and RH. The DHT22 sensors
showed good performance at the various temperature and RH values and had good
linear regressions that nearly overlapped the 1:1 line (y = x + 0). The linear regression
was y = 1.0065x − 1.5962 for the temperature and was y = 0.8346x + 7.3535 for the RH.
 Figure 12c: The CO2 measurements have been validated in this curve. The measured
CO2 using the Senseair-S8 sensor was validated with the indoor air CO2 m/datalogger
(Extech EA80). The values of R, R2, RMSE, and IOA are shown on the CO2 row in
Table 1, indicating a perfect match between the measured CO2 and the observed CO2.
The Senseair-S8 sensors showed good performance at the various gas concentrations
and had good linear regressions (y = 0.9389x + 0.004) that nearly overlapped the 1:1
line.
 Figure 12d: The C2H4 measurements have been validated in this curve. The measured
C2H4 using the MQ-3 sensor has been validated with the observed measurements by
a fruit ripening gas box containing 99.95% pure ethylene. The values of R, R2, RMSE,
and IOA are shown on the C2H4 row in Table 1, indicating a perfect match between
the measured C2H4 and the observed C2H4. The MQ-3 sensors showed good perfor-
mance at the various gas concentrations and had good linear regressions (y = 0.8445x
+ 0.0083) that nearly overlapped the 1:1 line.
 Figure 12e: This curve has validated the light measurements. The measured light us-
ing the BH1750 sensor has been validated with the observed measurements by the
light intensity meter/datalogger (Extech EA33). The values of R, R2, RMSE, and IOA
is shown on the light row in Table 1, indicating a perfect match between the meas-
ured light and the observed light. The BH1750 sensors showed good performance at
the various light intensities and had good linear regressions (y = 0.9673x + 13.487)
that nearly overlapped the 1:1 line.
 Figure 12f: This curve has validated the current intensity. The measured current in-
tensity using the CST2 sensor has been validated with the observed measurements
by the three-phase power and harmonics clamp meter (UNI-T). The R, R2, RMSE,
and IOA are shown on the current, power, and energy rows in Table 1, indicating a
perfect match between the measured current intensity and the observed current in-
tensity. The CST2 sensors showed good performance at the various current intensi-
ties and had good linear regressions (y = 0.9481x + 0.632) that nearly overlapped the
1:1 line.
Sensors 2022, 22, 4680 21 of 30

50 100
(a) (b)
40 80
Measured T (°C)

Measured RH (%)
30 60

20 40

Model Model
10 20
1:1 Slope 1:1 Slope
Linear (Model) Linear (Model)
0 0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Reference T (°C) Reference RH (%)
0.10 0.10
(c) (d)
0.08 0.08
Measured CO₂ (%)

0.06 Measured C₂H₄ (%) 0.06

0.04 0.04

0.02 Model 0.02 Model

1:1 Slope 1:1 Slope
Linear (Model) Linear (Model)
0.00 0.00
0.00 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.10 0.00 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.10
Reference CO₂ (%) Reference C₂H₄ (%)

1000 20
(e) (f)
800
15
Measured current (A)
Measured light (Lux)

600
10
400

5 Model
200 Model
1:1 Slope
Linear (Model)
0 0
0 200 400 600 800 1000 0 5 10 15 20
Reference light (Lux) Reference current (A)

Figure 12. Calibration results for temperature (a), relative humidity (b), CO2 (c), C2H4 (d), ambient
light (e), and current (f).

3.2. Monitoring, Controlling, and Alerting Results

Figure 13 presents the real-time acquired data based on the sensors’ measurements
for the most important parameters, i.e., outside temperature and compressor temperature
(a), MCSR temperature (b), MCSR RH (c), CO2 concentration in the MCSR (d), C2H4 con-
centration in the MCSR (e), and applied electrical current and hourly energy consumption
(f) for 3 months from 1 January to 1 April 2022.
Sensors 2022, 22, 4680 22 of 30

Figure 13. Data acquired by the designed IoT-BC system. Figure (a) shows the maximum (Ta Max),
minimum (Ta Min), and average (Ta Avg) of the ambient temperature outside. Figure (b) shows the
maximum (Tc Max), minimum (Ta Min), and average (Ta Avg) of the temperature inside the cold
storage room. Figure (c) shows the average relative humidity (RH Avg) inside the cold storage
room. Figure (d) shows the average CO2 concentration (CO2 Avg) inside the cold storage room.
Figure (e). Shows the average C2H4 concentration (C2H4 Avg) inside the cold storage room and the
maximum alert setpoint (Max A-Setpoint). Figure (f). Shows the average applied current (I Avg)
and the electrical energy consumption (E).

Figure 13a shows the variations in the maximum temperature (Ta Max), minimum
temperature (Ta Min), and average temperature (Ta Avg) temperature for the outside at-
mosphere in the study area and the average temperature of the MCSR compressor (Tc
Avg). The outside temperature ranged from 12.13 to 32.03 °C and the average outside
temperature was 20.32 ± 5.09. The average compressor temperature was 62.34 ± 10.91 rang-
ing from 32 to 80 °C. From the collected data in this figure, it is obvious that the outside
temperature impacts the compressor temperature. There was no significant difference be-
tween the MCSR and TCSR compressor temperatures. The compressor of the MCSR has
Sensors 2022, 22, 4680 23 of 30

not automatically turned off, and the designed IoT-based system has not sent any email
or SMS as an alert because the temperature has not reached to maximum compressor tem-
perature Setpoint (100 °C for 5 min), as shown in Figure 8.
Figure 13b shows the maximum inside temperature (Tc Max) the minimum temper-
ature (Tc), and the average temperature (Tc Avg) in the MCSR. Each value in this curve
describes the average temperatures of three different locations in the MCSR. This temper-
ature was controlled based on the flowchart shown in Figure 7, where Min C-Setpoint is
the minimum control setpoint equal to 4.5 °C, and Min A-setpoint is the minimum alert
setpoint equal to 3 °C. The Max C-Setpoint and Max A-Setpoint are the maximum control
and alert Setpoint that equal 5.5 °C and 7 °C, respectively. Figure 13b assures that the
developed MCSR successfully achieved the target internal temperature ranges as con-
trolled and alerted based on the setpoints, as shown in Figure 7. Unlike the TCSR the de-
signed system successfully sent an alert when the CCAR temperature reached 7.21 °C on
10 January at 8:00, 7.30 °C on 13 January at 14:15, 7.32 °C on 1 February at 12:10, 7.24 °C
on 11 February at 4:16, 7.12 °C on 26 February at 22:10, 7.11 °C on 6 March at 20:15, and
7.11 °C on 30 March at 14:05 based on the Tc Max A-Setpoint (7 °C). The system also suc-
cessfully sent an alert when the internal de-creased to 2.82 °C on 3 March at 10:15 and 2.87
°C on 11 March at 06:05 based on the Tc Min A-Setpoint (3 °C).
Figure 13c shows the average RH inside the MCSR for three months. The internal RH
in MCSR is controlled based on the flowchart shown in Figure 10, where RH Avg is the
average RH inside the cold storage room, Min C-Setpoint is the minimum control setpoint
(75%), Max C-Setpoint is the maximum control setpoint (80%), Min A-Setpoint is the min-
imum alert setpoint that equals 65%, and Max A-Setpoint is the maximum alert setpoint
that equals 90%. The control of the humidification system in the MCSR achieved the target
RH ranges, as observed in Figure 10. There was a significant difference between the RH
in the MCSR and TCSR. Where a significant oscillation in the RH in the TCSR was ob-
served with the passage of storage time. Figure 13c assures that the designed IoT-BC has
successfully achieved the target internal RH ranges as controlled and alerted based on the
setpoints, as shown in Figure 10. The system successfully sent an alert when the average
RH reached 91.53% on 6 January at 22:00 and 91% on 1 March at 20:05 based on the RH
Max A-Setpoint (90%). The system also successfully sent an alert when the average RH
decreased to 64.38% on 1 January at 06:00, 63.07% on 1 January at 18:07, 64.72% on 3 Feb-
ruary at 02:10, 64.35% on 3 February at 12:00, 63.21% on 6 March at 20:10, and 62.21% on
30 March at 14:20, according to the RH Min A-Setpoint (65%).
Figure 13d shows the average CO2 concentration (Avg CO2) inside the cold storage
room. The CO2 concentration inside the cold storage was controlled and alerted based on
the flowchart shown in Figure 11a, where Max A-Setpoint is the maximum control and
alert Setpoint that equals 0.045%. Figure 13d assures that the designed IoT-BC has suc-
cessfully achieved the target internal CO2 ranges as controlled and alerted based on the
setpoints, as shown in Figure 11a. Unlike the TCSR, the designed system successfully sent
an alert when the average CO2 concentration reached to 0.0477% on 10 January at 08:00,
0.0459% on 13 January at 14:00, 0.0462% on 1 February at 12:10, 0.0476% on 11 February
at 4:15, 0.0476% on 26 February at 22:02, 0.0469% on 6 March at 22:05, and 0.0465% on 30
March at 14:15 based on the CO2 Max A-Setpoint (0.045%).
Figure 13e shows the average C2H4 concentration (C2H4 Avg) inside the cold storage
room. The C2H4 concentration inside the cold storage room was controlled and alerted
based on the flowchart shown in Figure 11b, where Max A-Setpoint is the maximum con-
trol and alert Setpoint of 0.02%. Figure 13e assures that the designed IoT-BC has success-
fully achieved the target internal C2H4 ranges as controlled and alerted based on the set-
points, as shown in Figure 11b. The system successfully sent an alert when the average
C2H4 concentration reached 0.0212% on 27 February at 04:10 and 0.0213% on 1 March at
20:15 based on the C2H4 Max A-Setpoint (0.02%).
Figure 13f shows the average required current (I Avg) and the hourly electrical en-
ergy consumption for the MCSR equipment. The electrical energy is consumed by the
Sensors 2022, 22, 4680 24 of 30

refrigeration of date fruits, evaporator, and condenser fans, defrost heaters, humidifica-
tion system, lights, and control system. The average current for the cold storage room is
monitored based on the flowchart shown in Figure 9, where Max A-Setpoint is the maxi-
mum control and alert Setpoint that equals 10 A. Figure 13f assures that the developed
IoT-BC has successfully achieved the current target ranges as controlled based on the set-
points, as shown in Figure 9. There was no significant difference between the MCSR and
TCSR applied electrical energy consumption although the MCSR was supplied with the
designed control and humidification systems. The MCSR compressor has not automati-
cally turned off and the designed IoT-based system has not sent any email or SMS as an
alert because the applied electrical current has not reached to maximum current Setpoint
(10 A for one minute) and the three current meters of the compressor recorded the normal
ranges from 4 A to 7 A during its operating, as shown in Figure 9.
Inanition, the designed IoT-based system has not sent any email and SMS alerts due
to the internal light has not remained greater than the maximum light Setpoint (L is
greater than or equal to 5 Lux) for 30 min, as shown in Figure 11c.

3.3. Impact of IoT-BC on Stored Fruit Characteristics

Table 2 displays the impact of controlling and monitoring the MCSR by IoT-BC under
controlled RH of 75–80%, 5 °C temperature, and CO2 and C2H4 gases on the most im-
portant quality parameters, i.e., fruit weight, weight loss percentage, length, diameter
(FD), projected area, volume, density, sphericity percentage, hardness, pH, total soluble
solids, moisture content, water activity, color parameters, and color difference of stored
date fruits (Khalas cv.) compared to the TCSR under a same controlled temperature of 5
°C during cold storage times.

Table 2. Comparison of mean values ± standard deviation of fruit weight (FW), fruit weight loss
(FWL), fruit length (FL), fruit diameter (FD), projected area (PA), fruit volume (FV), fruit density
(Fd), sphericity percentage (Φ), fruit hardness (FH), pH, total soluble solids (TSS), moisture content
(MC), water activity (Aw), color parameters (L, a, b, h, c), and color difference (∆E) of stored date
fruits (Khalas cv.) at various storage time in cold storage rooms (CSRs) under traditional cold stor-
age room (TCSR) and the modified cold storage room (MCSR) controlled by IoT- based control sys-
tem.

Storage Time (Months)

Characteristics CSRs
0 1 2 3
TCSR 11.23 ± 1.3 A 10.69 ± 1.13 AB 9.63 ± 1.02 B 11.01 ± 0.07 AB
FW (g)
MCSR 11.29 ± 0.76 A 11.16 ± 0.88 A 10.63 ± 0.68 AB 11.32 ± 1.02 A
TCSR 0±0 5.77 ± 0.17 B 19.61 ± 0.59 A 4.81 ± 1.34 C
FWL (%)
MCSR 0±0 1.35 ± 0.09 D 1.96 ± 0.14 D 1.75 ± 0.26 D
TCSR 45.43 ± 2.11 A 44.07 ± 1.84 AB 44.13 ± 3.19 AB 41.37 ± 2.27 B
FL (mm)
MCSR 44.7 ± 2.02 A 44.38 ± 1.83 A 43.04 ± 1.7 AB 44.41 ± 1.48 A
TCSR 25.72 ± 0.9 A 25.04 ± 0.7 A 24.35 ± 1.37 A 24.64 ± 1.05 A
FD (mm)
MCSR 24.98 ± 2.27 A 25.01 ± 1.17 A 24.33 ± 1.37 A 24.81 ± 1.36 A
TCSR 6.76 ± 0.33 A 6.38 ± 0.25 A 6.36 ± 0.64 A 6.3 ± 0.6 A
PA (cm²)
MCSR 7 ± 0.87 A 6.69 ± 0.33 A 6.33 ± 0.48 A 6.65 ± 0.54 A
TCSR 15.39 ± 1.08 AB 14.15 ± 0.78 AB 13.77 ± 1.75 B 11.94 ± 1.9 C
FV (cm³)
MCSR 15.63 ± 1.13 A 14.89 ± 0.44 AB 13.79 ± 1.05 B 14.7 ± 0.99 AB
TCSR 0.93 ± 0.1 A 0.95 ± 0.11 A 1.01 ± 0.18 A 1.02 ± 0.14 A
Fd (g/cm³)
MCSR 0.95 ± 0.1 A 0.95 ± 0.07 A 0.98 ± 0.09 A 0.99 ± 0.09 A
TCSR 82.89 ± 3.63 A 83.08 ± 3.24 A 83.5 ± 5.54 A 82.21 ± 3.81 A
Φ (%)
MCSR 82.17 ± 3.25 A 82.62 ± 1.5 A 82.83 ± 2.81 A 82.19 ± 2.74 A
TCSR 4.94 ± 1.87 AB 3.63 ± 1.28 BC 2.07 ± 0.61 DE 1.33 ± 0.67 E
FH (N)
MCSR 5.06 ± 0.8 A 4.34 ± 0.66 A-C 3.03 ± 0.23 CD 3.19 ± 0.34 CD
TCSR 8.36 ± 0.07 AB 8.12 ± 0.07 BC 7.65 ± 0.13 E 7.15 ± 0.02 F
pH
MCSR 8.48 ± 0.4 A 8.3 ± 0.19 A–C 8.06 ± 0.22 CD 7.81 ± 0.19 DE
TSS (°Brix) TCSR 74.57 ± 1.06 D 75.54 ± 0.68 CD 77.5 ± 0.68 C 88.73 ± 0.97 A
Sensors 2022, 22, 4680 25 of 30

MCSR 73.84 ± 2.44 D 74.69 ± 1.24 D 75.67 ± 0.9 CD 82.85 ± 3.27 B

TCSR 19.88 ± 0.72 F 22.01 ± 0.8 DE 26.28 ± 1.38 B 28.75 ± 1.39 A
MC (%)
MCSR 19.63 ± 0.66 F 20.82 ± 0.61 EF 22.96 ± 0.83 CD 24.19 ± 0.75 C
TCSR 0.62 ± 0.03 E 0.66 ± 0.03 DE 0.76 ± 0.06 BC 0.9 ± 0.05 A
Aw
MCSR 0.64 ± 0.08 DE 0.65 ± 0.04 DE 0.7 ± 0.04 CD 0.77 ± 0.05 B
TCSR 43 ± 2.84 D 44.74 ± 1.99 CD 48.21 ± 2.1 B 51.72 ± 1.4 A
L
MCSR 43.73 ± 3.43 D 44.23 ± 1.65 D 45.97 ± 1.85 BD 47.72 ± 1.08 BC
TCSR 9.83 ± 2.73 A 9.64 ± 1.7 A 9.26 ± 3.1 A 4.99 ± 1.24 B
a
MCSR 9.58 ± 1.79 A 9.61 ± 0.82 A 9.42 ± 1.46 A 7.29 ± 0.81 AB
TCSR 13.05 ± 1.63 A 11.4 ± 1.22 A-C 8.08 ± 2.94 DE 6.71 ± 1.37 E
b
MCSR 12.81 ± 1.23 A 12.1 ± 0.57 AB 10.45 ± 1.37 BC 9.76 ± 0.86 CD
TCSR 64.94 ± 5.56 A 60.51 ± 3.62 AB 64.79 ± 5.19 A 50.6 ± 4.39 C
h°
MCSR 66.15 ± 5.69 A 63.33 ± 2.49 AB 57.8 ± 3.06 B 65.47 ± 3.37 A
TCSR 16.39 ± 2.89 A 14.94 ± 1.95 A-C 12.31 ± 4.2 C 8.38 ± 1.74 D
c
MCSR 16.87 ± 1.77 A 15.91 ± 1.44 AB 14.59 ± 2.49 A-C 12.63 ± 1 BC
TCSR 0±0 3.21 ± 0.78 C 6.43 ± 1.56 AB 7.14 ± 2.75 A
∆E
MCSR 0±0 2.65 ± 2.34 C 3.51 ± 1.36 C 4.4 ± 2.21 BC
The means within each quality parameter (N = 10) with the same letters are not significantly differ-
ent at p ≤ 0.05.

The data in Table 2 show a highly significant (p < 0.05) effect of the storage time on
the most quality parameters of stored date fruit in the TCSR compared with the MCSR.
Comparing TCSR and MCSR after 3 months of storage time, date palm fruits stored in
TCSR had significantly (p < 0.05) lower fruit length, volume, hardness, pH, and color pa-
rameters (b, h, and c). The fruit’s total soluble solids, moisture content, water activity, and
color lightness (L) were significantly increased when date palm fruits were stored at dif-
ferent duration in the TCSR and the MCSR. There was no significant difference between
the mean values of fruit weight, diameter, projected area, density, sphericity, and color
parameter (a). There was no significant weight loss and color difference for the stored date
fruit in the MCSR. On the contrary, there was a significant difference in weight loss and
color difference for dates stored in the TCSR.
Food products must be properly stored in some cold storage facilities to prevent
spoilage and save their nutritional value. At least, there should exist an effective control
and monitoring for the temperature and humidity inside the cold storage facilities. This
motivates the need for integrating IoT with the cold storage facility. The IoT-enabled cold
storage monitoring can regularly and successfully record, monitor, and support the con-
ditions inside the cold storage. It is also urgent to ensure that the cold storage room tem-
perature never exceeds the optimal temperature based on the kind of product stored in
the room.
The most critical parameters that affect the shelf life of the stored products in cold
storage are temperature and RH [45,46]. The fruits of date palm cv. Khalas stored at 5 °C
and 80% RH did not show insect activity or degradation in fruit quality and enhanced
their shelf-life [47]. Soft and semi-soft date fruits can be preserved by storing them at 5 °C
or lower, preventing the development of various pests [48]. However, the stored product
is subject to partial weight loss during cold storage in conventional systems due to its
surface drying in addition to the deterioration of the quality of the fruits during storage
due to the lack of accurate control of the temperature and RH in the internal atmosphere
of cold refrigerating rooms.
The morphological and biochemical characteristics of date palm fruit, such as size,
color, hardness, acidity, sweetness, and moisture content, are used to assess its marketa-
bility [49]. The results found that fruit weight, size, and projected area were maintained
better after three months of storage at MCSR, where the RH was remotely controlled.
These parameters were significantly reduced at TCSR, where RH oscillated. Previous
studies on date palm fruit storage indicated a reduction in fruit weight and size with time
[4,50,51]. The management of storage temperature was emphasized in these
Sensors 2022, 22, 4680 26 of 30

investigations. However, the current study focused on storage temperature and RH. As a
result, the fruits stored at MCSR did not reduce weight or size after three months of stor-
age.
Similarly, the fruit weight loss was also minimal after three months of storage at
MCSR compared to TCSR. The increase in respiration rate, induced by reduced RH in the
air surrounding the fruit, is usually responsible for the decrease in fruit weight [52,53].
The fruit weight loss was higher with the increase in storage temperature in apples; how-
ever, higher RH reduced the weight loss [54]. The ultrasonic humidifier substantially im-
pacted the weight loss of date fruits after six months of cold storage [9]. After three months
of storage at MCSR, maintaining the RH retained fruit weight in the current study.
Similarly, the date palm fruit firmness was significantly reduced at TCSR compared
to MCSR after six months of storage. Fruit tissue softening is linked to moisture loss and
turgor pressure reduction [55]. In the present study, maintaining a high RH level equili-
brated moisture content, which kept the fruit firm. Nectarine fruits have reduced weight
loss and maintained higher fruit firmness during cold storage under 85–90% RH [56]. On
the other hand, apple fruits kept at 95% RH lost their firmness very slowly during storage
[54]. Similarly, high RH during storage-maintained firmness in zucchini fruit [57].
However, the fruit pH of date palm cv. Khalas stored at TCSR or MCSR was reduced
after three months of storage; however, it was lowest at TCSR. The fermentation activity
of microorganisms during storage is considered to produce organic acids, leading to de-
creased fruit pH [58,59]. Similar results were reported after fruit storage in cv. Khalas [16]
and cv. Stamaran [60]. According to the present study, the TSS of date palm cv. Khalas
stored for three months increased at both storage conditions, i.e., 15.96% at TCSR and
10.88% at MCSR. The leading cause of the increase in TSS would be the enzymatic con-
version of large polysaccharides into small sugars [4]. According to Radi et al. [59], the
increase in TSS of date fruits during storage may be due to microbial and enzymatic ac-
tivity that converts high molecular weight molecules to low molecular weight com-
pounds. Pomegranate fruit had a considerable rise in TSS content during storage, linked
to moisture loss and increased sugar concentration in the fruit [61,62]. These results coin-
cide with Aleid et al. [63], who stored date fruits (cv. Khalas) at 5 °C for 12 months and
found that fruit pH declined while TSS and moisture content increased. Similarly, TSS
increased in cv. Mazafati fruits are stored at 4 °C for 180 days [51]. Pomegranate fruits
stored at 5 °C and 92% RH had significantly reduced weight loss and maintained TSS [64].
Our study also showed that the fruits were stored at TCSR and MCSR for three months,
and the moisture content of the fruit increased by 30.85 and 18.85%, respectively, com-
pared to the fruits before storage. Comparing the moisture content of fruits stored at TCSR
and MCSR after three months, 16% less moisture content was determined in fruit stored
at MCSR. Similarly, water activity was 14.44% less after three months of storage at MCSR
compared to TCSR. Mohammed et al. [9] found that fruits of cv. Khalas stored at 5 °C and
80% RH maintained moisture content and water activity compared to traditional storage
facilities. Another study revealed that after five months of storage, the moisture content
in cvs. Majhoul and Boufeggous did not change considerably, whereas TSS increased in
cv. Majhoul [65]. The decrease in moisture and water activity could be accounted for by
the evaporation of fruit water caused by the relatively high temperature and moderate
RH [66].
Apart from the values of CIE L, all other fruit color attributes (a, b, h°, and C) de-
creased during the storage time; however, these attributes (a, b, h°, and C) were signifi-
cantly higher at MCSR when compared with TCSR color values. The decrease in h° was
also reported in tomatoes during storage [67]. In cherries, the h° decreased under both
cold and ambient temperature storage [68]. In the present study, the h° difference between
unstored and stored fruits for three months at MCSR was non-significant, also reported
in strawberries where storage temperature and RH did not affect h° [69]. A significant
difference in color attributes was also observed in apple cv. Granny Smiths were stored
Sensors 2022, 22, 4680 27 of 30

for 4 months at 2 °C and 90% RH [45]. On the other hand, pomegranate fruits stored at 5
°C maintained their color better throughout the storage period [64].

4. Conclusions
Maintaining high quality and ensuring food safety are extremely important. The pre-
sent study presented a smart IoT-BC system that connects sensors, actuators, and related
cold storage equipment for remote controlling, monitoring, and risk alerting to maintain
food quality and components of cold storage facilities. As a case study, we applied the
cloud-based IoT system to control and monitor the microclimate, i.e., RH, temperature,
CO2, C2H4, and interior light for a commercial-sized CSR, for extending the shelf life and
maintaining the quality of the date fruit (Khalas cv.). On the other hand, some operating
parameters, i.e., the temperature of the refrigeration compressor, the electrical current,
and the energy consumption, were monitored and controlled to maintain CSR equipment.
The impacts of the designed IoT-based control system on date fruit quality during cold
storage in the MCSR were investigated and compared with TCSR. Based on real-time data
analytics, the results showed that the designed IoT-BC system efficiently controlled the
MCSR, provided reliable data about the interior microclimate atmosphere, applied elec-
trical current and energy consumption of the MCSR, and sent the necessary alerts in the
event of an emergency. In the MCSR, most of the quality attributes did not significantly
differ at various storage times; however, in the TCSR, storage time had an adverse effect
on the quality characteristics of stored date fruit. Therefore, we recommend IoT-BC tech-
nology to manage cold storage facilities to maintain the high quality and safety of the
stored food due to its positive impacts on the characteristics of stored fruits and the po-
tential of remote control and monitoring of cold storage facilities. However, further stud-
ies are needed to incorporate the designed IoT-BC with modern machine learning and
food sensor technologies for integrated food quality management during cold storage.

Author Contributions: Conceptualization, M.M. and K.R.; engineering design, M.M. and K.R.;
methodology, M.M. and K.R.; software, K.R. and M.M.; validation, M.M. and K.R..; formal analysis,
M.M. and K.R.; investigation, M.M. and K.R.; resources, M.M., K.R. and N.A.; data curation, M.M.
and K.R.; writing—original draft preparation, K.R. and M.M.; writing—review and editing, M.M.,
K.R., and N.A.; visualization, K.R. and M.M.; project administration, M.M.; funding acquisition,
M.M., K.R., and N.A. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Funding: This work was supported through the Annual Funding track by the Deanship of Scientific
Research, Vice Presidency for Graduate Studies and Scientific Research, King Faisal University,
Saudi Arabia [Project No. AN00069].
Institutional Review Board Statement: Not applicable.
Informed Consent Statement: Not applicable.
Data Availability Statement: Not applicable.
Acknowledgments: The authors gratefully acknowledge the Date Palm Research Center of Excel-
lence, King Faisal University, Saudi Arabia, for supporting this study with the availability of cold
storage rooms, experimental fields, and laboratories.
Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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