Towards Hybrid Blockchain Integrated With IoT Applied for Supply Chain Tracking

Abstract

ABSTRACT Background Preserving the quality and safety of perishable products requires continuous monitoring and reliable traceability. Although the Internet of Things (IoT) enables real‐time data collection, multi‐organizational supply chains lack a common mechanism for assigning data custody while maintaining transparency, integrity, and performance. Objective This study proposes and evaluates an architecture integrating IoT, edge/fog computing, and hybrid storage—an off‐chain traditional database combined with a permissioned blockchain—to monitor and trace perishable products. Methods A prototype was implemented using IoT devices and simulators, edge and fog components, and hybrid storage. High‐volume sensor data and critical records were stored off‐chain in MongoDB, while their corresponding hashes were stored on‐chain using Hyperledger Fabric. Four controlled experiments assessed insertion response time, the impact of increasing sensors and edge devices, blockchain queue performance under burst workloads, and blockchain storage consumption. The hybrid approach was compared with MongoDB‐only and Hyperledger Fabric‐only storage. Results Hybrid storage achieved insertion up to six times faster than blockchain‐only storage. Response times increased with simultaneous requests and additional edge devices, while asynchronous ordered insertion prevented transaction conflicts during bursts. The prototype achieved 18.5 transactions per second, below the 65 estimated for an illustrative supply‐chain scenario. Blockchain storage grew approximately 8 MB per 100 records, reaching about 1 GB for 12,800 hashes. Conclusion The prototype demonstrates the feasibility of combining off‐chain storage, permissioned blockchain records, and edge/fog processing to provide verifiable traceability while reducing on‐chain load. Larger‐scale, real‐world evaluations and storage‐management strategies remain necessary.