Color evaluation of food emulsion with large and small oil droplet using digital camera

• Project/Area Number: 15K12327
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Eating habits
• Research Institution: Kyoto Gakuen University
• Principal Investigator: Shiga Hirokazu 京都学園大学, バイオ環境学部, 講師 (70707661)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2019-03-31
• Project Status: Completed (Fiscal Year 2018)
• Budget Amount: ¥3,770,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,900,000、Indirect Cost: ¥870,000); Fiscal Year 2017: ¥780,000 (Direct Cost: ¥600,000、Indirect Cost: ¥180,000); Fiscal Year 2016: ¥780,000 (Direct Cost: ¥600,000、Indirect Cost: ¥180,000); Fiscal Year 2015: ¥2,210,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥510,000)
• Keywords: 不飽和脂肪酸 / 乳化 / 酸化安定性 / エマルション / 油脂

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The color management of food products is an important factor to evaluate its quality and safety. The color of food products is usually analyzed by a spectrophotometer or colorimeter. However, the utilization of these analysis equipments is limited in small food companies due to the high initial cost. In this study, the application of easily available digital cameras to the color management of food products was investigated for food emulsion containing blue pigment.
The color differences of the food emulsion were highly correlated with Euclidean distance of digital camera (RGB data) and colorimeter (L*a*b* data). The results suggest that a digital camera could apply to the color management of food emulsions.

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究成果により、高価な分光測色計や分光高度計を用いなくても、安価で手軽に購入できるデジタルカメラを用いて、乳化液の安定性評価が行なえる。日本の食品業界では中小企業が約70%、零細企業が29％といわれている。デジタルカメラは数千円での購入できる安価なものもあり、中小・零細企業における食品の品質向上や安全性の向上が期待される。