Investigation of the application of digital colour imaging to assess the mixture quality of binary food powder mixes

Digital colour imaging (DCI) was applied in this study as a novel approach for assessing the mixture quality of binary food powder mixes. Three different binary powder mixes with different coloured ingredients [salt, paprika, black pepper and onion] were investigated using a commercially available system called DigiEye. The coordinates of CIELAB colour space were used to describe the colour of the samples. The sample colour variance was used as a measure of mixture quality. The results showed that DCI has potential for assessing the mixture quality of binary food powder mixes, provided that colour difference between the powders can be measured. The ability to assess mixture quality decreases as the colour difference between the components in the mix decreases. Furthermore, scale of scrutiny and composition also influence the capability of the method.