The reliable and low-cost quantitative detection of ethylene for food/fruit applications remains an unsolved problem. Existing commercial systems are able to quantify ethylene (at sub ppm levels) but either they are off-line: require periodic sample collection and use of reagents or high-cost. We will report on the development of an RFID reader with onboard micro-machined metal oxide gas sensors aimed at monitoring climacteric fruit during transport and vending. The developed platform integrates a commercial off the shelf inductive coupling RF transceiver in the 13.56MHz band, fully compliant with the ISO15693 standard, micro-hotplate gas sensors, driving and readout electronics. If the sensors are operated at a fixed temperature, the reader could work as an alarm level monitor able to assess the conservation stage of apples. On the other hand, when the sensors are operated under an optimised temperature …