Comparison of Colour Measurement Methods in the Food Industry

Colour is a key parameter in the evaluation of food products. Accurate colour measurement enables us to maintain their consistent quality. The aim of this study was to compare three colour measurement methods. The food products used for the study were French fries, the colour of which was checked after defined frying times. Their colour was measured using a professional Minolta C-5 spectrophotometer (Konica Minolta Sensing Europe B.V., Nieuwegein, The Netherlands) as well as a low-cost SparkFun SEN-15050 spectrophotometer (SparkFun Electronics, Niwot, CO, USA) and a readily available HP SkanJet 4850 scanner (Hewlett Packard, Palo Alto, CA, USA). The images obtained were analysed using free ImageJ software ver. 1.54. The results indicate that low-cost spectrophotometers used in the Internet of Things (IoT) systems and colour measurement methods based on vision techniques are suitable for less precise but fast measurements and, in such cases, can successfully replace the expensive and often bulky devices.