Brix Refractometers measure the sucrose concentration within a sample or solution. They are used widely in the food industry for testing fruits, vegetables, wine, beer, jams, jellies, and more. In many cases, Brix results will have a huge impact on the quality, taste and nutritional value of the food products, which makes it vital to obtain accurate results.
(And did you know that temperature has an impact on the accuracy of Brix percentage results?)
Read on to discover the quality control secret of a Brix Refractometer with ATC capabilities.
About Brix Refractometers
Brix Refractometers measure the number of grams of pure cane sugar (sucrose) dissolved in 100mL of pure water. These devices produce this data by calculating the light refraction of a liquid sample and convert the result to a Brix percentage.
How does refraction measure sucrose within a sample?
When light enters a liquid, it changes direction; this is called refraction.The more dissolved or suspended solids within a solution, the more refraction will occur. Brix refractometers use this principle to measure sucrose within a sample. The more sucrose present, the greater the refractive index and Brix percentage. The less sucrose present, the smaller the refractive index and Brix percentage.
The Brix percentage directly correlates with the quality, taste, and nutritional density of many food items. Therefore, regularly sampling food products to determine the Brix percentage of food makes Brix refractometers an essential tool for managers who are responsible for quality control. It is vital to measure throughout the food chain, from the farm, during various processing stages, and before landing on supermarket shelves.
About ATC and the effect that temperature has on Brix results
ATC stands for Automatic Temperature Compensation. To obtain accurate results using Brix refractometers without ATC, you need to wait for both the device and sample to reach a temperature as close to 20°c as possible, or laboriously calculate adjustments caused by temperature variations.
Why? Because the refractive index will change dramatically with temperature. For example, in a 10°Brix sucrose solution, ±1°c of change can cause the Brix reading to shift by ±0.06°Bx. Other sample concentrations will exhibit result shifts up to three times more depending on temperature variations. A well-known example is beer.
Devices with ATC automatically adjust captured results using preprogrammed data of the way that the sucrose refractive index changes with temperature variations. ATC plays a vital role in maintaining quality when you need accurate results during the processing of foods when you cannot wait for the temperature to reach 20°c.
Examples of Brix Refractometers with ATC
There is a vast range of Brix refractometers available in the Instrument Choice online store which employ ATC. Instrument Choice scientists have profiled carefully selected samples so you can appreciate some of the practical application of this cost-effective and productivity-enhancing technology.
Sugar Refractometer - IC300010 
ATC is not just limited to digital meters, this optical meter features ATC which makes manual temperature corrections unnecessary.
Applications: Great for fruit, fruit juices, wine, milk, soft drinks and yeast cultures solutions.
ATC: Yes
Brix Measurement Range: 0 – 32%
Digital Hand-held Pocket Refractometer - IC-PAL-1
Boasting a wide measurement range, the IC-PAL-1 is one of the most popular digital Brix Refractometers available from Instrument Choice.
Applications: This device is widely used by professionals for quality checking a variety of food items such as fruit juice, soup, condiments, jams and more.
ATC: Yes
Brix Measurement Range: 0.0 to 53%
Pocket Digital Refractometer - IC-300053 
Measure almost anything with this wide range Brix refractometer. The determined temperature will be displayed on the large LCD screen, shortly followed by the precise results.
Applications: Perfect for a wide range of uses from measure fruit, vegetables, juices, wine, beer and more.
ATC: Yes
Brix Measurement Range: 0 to 95%
Waterproof Refractometer - IC-300058 
The IC-300058 will measure the full Brix range. As a bonus, it also calibrates the refractive index, temperature,dextran, fructose, glucose, lactose, and maltose scales.
A waterproof design makes it ideal for wet manufacturing environments, such as for measuring samples of wine, carbonated beverages, beer, and fruit juices.
ATC: Yes
Brix Measurement Range: 0 to 95%
Conclusion
Brix Refractometers are a fantastic, cost-effective, and productivity-enhancing quality control tools used in the food and beverage industry. Because of the heavy reliance on the data produced by Brix Refractometers, obtaining accurate results in environments where temperature can vary significantly is essential. In these circumstances, ATC removes the guesswork and unnecessary trouble of measuring Brix.
Need a hand finding the best Brix Refractometer for you? Need more information on ATC? Contact one of our scientists call 1300 737 871 or email your questions to customer-service@instrumentchoice.com.au for a quick 3-hour response.