Performance of the Nix Pro 2 handheld sensor in mascavo sugar color analysis

Abstract The Nix Pro 2 portable sensor emerges as an alternative, offering portability and digital integration. While studies in other food matrices have confirmed its efficacy in detecting color variables, its validation in a complex matrix such as mascavo sugar has not yet been tested. The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of the Nix Pro 2 portable sensor in determining the instrumental color of mascavo sugar compared to Konica Minolta equipment. A total of 125 mascavo sugar samples were analyzed, standardized by grain size, and readings were taken in Petri dishes (60 × 15 mm) using the CIELAB color space (L ∗ , a ∗ , b ∗ , C ∗ and o h). Measurements were performed in triplicate for each sample by rotating the Petri dish to cover different surface points. The methods used were: (1) CR-400 - colorimeter; (2) CM-25d - spectrophotometer; and (3) Nix Pro 2 Sensor. The PCA explained 94.2% of the total data variance, highlighting a strong agreement between the three devices and demonstrating that the sensors captured color variations equivalently. The Nix Pro 2 showed high fidelity in detecting o h, with a correlation of r = 0.85 relative to the CM-25d. For lightness (L ∗ ), it presented an R2 = 0.81 compared to the CR-400. The Nix Pro 2 did not differ from the CM-25d spectrophotometer in the chroma (C ∗ ) variable (PCA Dimension 1), suggesting its signal processing is efficient for granular matrices. Overall, the results demonstrate that the Nix Pro 2 color sensor represents an analytically comparable, rapid, and cost-effective screening tool for preliminary quality monitoring of mascavo sugar, exhibiting strong alignment with reference benchtop spectrophotometry under controlled laboratory conditions.