A simple digital imaging method for the analysis of the color of food surfaces

Abstract

Compared to manual inspection, which is inconsistent and subjective, sorters are able to assure product quality and food safety by more effectively identifying and removing defects and foreign material, while at the same time reducing labor costs and improving operating efficiencies. In this paper we analyzed color of the green beans in the way to find certain parameter which defined good color, acceptable for consumers because homogeneity and appearance have a significant impact on the consumer's decision and to see does and how different lighting effect on the color. The color recorded in the image is not an inherent value of observed object, because it is also influenced by the illumination properties (illuminance, spectral intensity distribution, color rendering index), as well as geometry and surfaces of neighboring objects. The CIE La*b* color space gave good results in a way that it define better the ranges of parameter a*.