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Wageningen University

Wageningen University uses IRIS to study the relation between visual criteria such as color and other parameters like consumer preferences, sensory perceptions

wageningen university iris visual analyzer

Activity: Food research on many different products
Context: Study of the relation between visual criteria such as color and other parameters like consumer preferences, sensory perceptions or concentration of a component
Equipment: IRIS Visual Analyzer
Website: https://www.wur.nl/en

Relating food quality to visual aspect with IRIS electronic eye

At Wageningen University & Research Institute, the mission of the Food Quality and Design Division is to use technological skills as an input for the study of food quality attributes, and to optimize food quality throughout the food chain. Within this division, the Department of Agrotechnology & Food Sciences conducts research projects on many different products such as rice, cereals, bread, fruits and new sources of proteins like insects.

Easy and accurate measurement of visual parameters

In 2018, Wageningen University equipped one of their lab of the Department of Agrotechnology and Food Sciences with an IRIS Visual Analyzer from Alpha MOS. With this new technology they aimed at getting more analytical data when studying the properties of food products as part of their research projects.

Mrs Charlotte Van Twisk, Assistant research and education, is in charge of training BSc MSC and PhD’s students to use IRIS instrument for their research works. She comments: “After a short introduction the students can easily handle the device and software themselves”.

Lawal Moplola, PhD student, adds: “In 2020, when I needed an objective and precise analysis of the color parameters of my samples (yellow cassava flour and pasta products), my group’s technician, Charlotte van Twisk, provided a solution in form of IRIS visual analyzer. With IRIS, I was able to make nice pictures of the samples using the high-resolution cameras of the device. The most interesting thing I found about IRIS is that it is user-friendly. My pictures were taken from both the top and bottom under white lighting conditions thus making the pictures sharp, clear and appealing. With an introduction and instructions on using the device by Charlotte, which took less than an hour, I was able to use the device to analyze my samples without any trouble.”

 

Valuable results and promising work

Since the IRIS has been installed at Wageningen University, several articles have already been published [1, 2, 3].

For example, the article “Degree of maturity and dry heat processing affect visual quality and volatile profile of roasted immature rice grains “ [2] demonstrates that the visual quality, among is others, is influenced by the degree of maturity of the grain and processing conditions.

There are also numerous applications presently under development, to correlate measured visual parameters with human perception or chemical composition, such as:

  • Change of color on insects after different heat treatments
  • Porosity of maize-bread or broccoli-bread related to texture and sensory panel
  • Shelf-life of lettuce and spinach using different cooking techniques
  • Research on the non-destructive method development of ß-carotene detection. The relation between increased ß-carotene content and deeper orange colors are used to compare different cooking techniques of orange-fleshed sweet potato.
     

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“With IRIS, I was able to make nice pictures of the samples using the high-resolution cameras of the device. The most interesting thing I found about IRIS is that it is user-friendly. My pictures were taken from both the top and bottom under white lighting conditions thus making the pictures sharp, clear and appealing. With an introduction and instructions on using the device by Charlotte, which took less than an hour, I was able to use the device to analyze my samples without any trouble.”
 

 


Quotes

[1] Surface color distribution analysis by computer vision compared to sensory testing: Vacuum fried fruits as a case study, Fitriyono Ayustaningwarno (a,b,c), Vincenzo Fogliano (a), Ruud Verkerk (a), Matthijs Dekker (a), (a) Food Quality and Design, Wageningen University & Research, the Netherlands, (b) Department of Nutrition Science, Faculty of Medicine, Diponegoro University, Indonesia, (c) Center of Nutrition Research, Diponegoro University, Indonesia - Food Research International 143 (2021) 110230

[2] Degree of maturity and dry heat processing affect visual quality and volatile profile of roasted immature rice grains, Kulwa F. Miraji(a,b), Edoardo Capuano(b), Henry S. Laswai(c), Anita R. Linnemann(b) (a) Tanzania Agricultural Research Institute, Ifakara Centre, Ifakara, Tanzania (b) Food Quality and Design, Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands (c) Mwenge Catholic University, Moshi, Tanzania, submitted to Food Research International (2022)

[3] Differences in moisture sorption characteristics and browning of lesser mealworm (Alphitobius diaperinus) ingredients, He Sun, Ornella Necochea Velazco, Catriona Lakemond, Matthijs Dekker, Lee Cadesky, Maryia Mishyna, Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands, LWT, 142, 110989 (2021)