T. Kuti (1), A. Hegyi (1), C.C. Gilbert (2), P. Szepesváry (3)
1 Campden & Chorleywood Food Industry Development Institute, Hungary
2 Campden & Chorleywood Food Research Association, UK
3 ELTE University Dept. of Chemistry, Hungary
t.kuti@campdenkht.com
Red paprika powder/chilli is an essential element of Hungarian as well as international cuisine. This research, funded by the Hungarian Government, has evaluated the colour of red paprika powder in order to increase the competitiveness of Hungarian red pepper in the marketplace. Previous research showed that colour is one of the most important attributes/cues used by consumers to assess quality. The main objective of this project was to determine and compare various colour measurement methods to determine which technique provides the most reliable results about the colour. A new colour measurement technique based on image analysis (DigiEye) was used for comparison against sensory and chemical measurements of the colour.
DigiEye is a new non-contact digital imaging system, which captures colour information by taking pictures of samples in a unique controlled lighting environment using a high-resolution digital camera, calibrating the images against reference colour standards.
The sensory assessments of colour were carried out with 7 trained assessors in 3 replications using descriptive profiling.
Chemical measurements were recorded using the total colouring matter content (ASTA value), a technique which has been used for many years in industry for measuring colour.
30 different red paprika powder samples were measured in three replicates.
Analysis of Variance, Principal Component Analysis and Cluster Analysis were used to analyse the results. The statistical relationship between the digital image and sensory measurement was much stronger than that between chemical measurement and sensory assessment.
DigiEye was shown to be easily applicable for quick and accurate determination of colour, while chemical measurements do not allow precise conclusions to be drawn on the colour of paprika powder.
Chemical measurements should therefore be supplemented with sensory evaluation in order to get an accurate measure of colour.
Acknowledgement:
GAK 2005 CPPAPR05
