A Versatile and Inexpensive Technique for Measuring Color of Foods

SPYRIDON E. PAPADAKIS, SITI ABDUL-MALEK, RICKY EMERY KAMDEM,

KIT L. YAM

December 1, 2000

A frequent challenge in conducting research is to find the right tools with a limited budget. We recently encountered this challenge when searching for a versatile and inexpensive technique to measure the color of the bottom surface of microwaved pizza.

Fig. 1—Experimental setup of the light system, digital camera, and food sample Specifically, we needed to measure the color profile at various locations on the surface and to store the images of food samples for future use. Although our department has a HunterLab Colorimeter and a Minolta Chroma Meter, these instruments did …

Fig. 2—Bottom surfaces of pizzas microwaved for 3 min on plain paperboard (left) and on susceptor (right)

% dark surface = No. of pixels with L* < 60

Fig. 3—Separation of the whole pizza into (a) the outer section, (b) the middle section, and (c) the inner section

Fig. 4—Lightness, a, and b values in the Histogram Windows Fig. 5—Mean L* values for the whole pizza and the outer, middle, and inner sections. The symbol • represents pizza samples microwaved on plain paperboard for 3 min (A) and for 3.5 min (B). The symbol represents pizza samples microwaved on the susceptor for 3 min (C) and for 3.5 min (D)

Fig. 6—Mean a* values for the whole pizza and the outer, middle, and inner sections. The symbols are the same as in Fig. 5 Fig. 7—Mean b* values for the whole pizza and the outer, middle, and inner sections. The symbols are the same as in Fig. 5