Whether checking the ripeness of fruit and vegetables, the appetizing colour of a ready-made tomato sauce or the rich colour of chocolate, the impact of colour on what ends up in the consumer’s basket is undeniable.

Color communicates freshness, flavor, and quality. Compared to the variety of parameters which require accurate analytical monitoring in a food laboratory, color represents the only immediately apparent quality indicator and deserves the appropriate attention through objective and repeatable measurement of raw materials, production processes and the final product.

Supermarket shelves are dominated by processed food and customers expect consistency. Color variance no longer represents natural characteristics but poor mixing, a change of recipe or older product. Processed foods require accurate analysis and monitoring of color change throughout production. For example, when replacing synthetic colors (especially for dairy products) the natural color may display decreased color stability over time and/or temperature change, making accurate color control essential.

In addition to ensuring consistency for products that are displayed in large numbers on supermarket shelves, colour measurement has proven useful in monitoring consumer preference surveys and for research and development of improved processing methods.

In the agricultural industries, portable instruments and objective colour measurement are replacing grade scales based on visual assessment (e.g., meat classification, salmon colour, egg yolk colour). Konica Minolta Sensing is a leading provider of colour management solutions to the food, ingredients, and beverage industry, supplying instruments to suit any application, either in the field, the factory, or the laboratory.

Konica Minolta instruments are supported by a range of accessories designed to assist users in obtaining repeatable measurements of samples. Optical glass cells are available to measure liquids in transmission, and a granular materials attachment is available to get a consistent presentation of powders and granules.

How Color is Quantify?

The measurement of color is known as colorimetry. Just like weight and distance measurement using SI system, color can be expressed numerically. CIE 1976 L*a*b* color space (also referred to as CIELAB) is one of the most popular color spaces for measuring object colors.  It was defined by CIE in 1976 for color communication and is widely adopted today in many industries for color control and management.

In the L*a*b* color space, L* indicates lightness and a* and b* are chromaticity coordinates.  a* and b* are color directions: +a* is the red axis, -a’ is the green axis, +b* is the yellow axis and -b* is the blue axis.

Portable and reliable measurements with the Chroma-Meter Konica Minolta CR-400 & CR-410

Konica Minolta portable Chroma-Meters have become a “de facto standard”, especially in the food and ingredients industry. The CR-400 and CR-410 represent a step forward in usability, portability, durability and reliability as well as flexibility in terms of sample forms including solids, paste, powder and granules. The instruments also offer either a small or large measurement area, to suit either homogenous or irregular samples.

Next Generation Spectrophotometer: Konica Minolta CM-5

The CM-5 delivers next generation spectral colour measurement for the laboratory, setting new standards in terms of total application flexibility and a design concept that provides unprecedented levels of user friendliness.

Users of the CM-5 will benefit in terms of higher productivity through user friendly colour measurement for almost any sample. The top port alignment allows the reflectance measurement of opaque samples whether they are solid, powder, granule, paste or liquid, whilst the transmission chamber is used for transparent or translucent forms.

The ease of use for routine measurements was a key factor in the development process, the CM-5 features on screen user guides and a USB port that allows users to configure and store different user profiles. The large colour display and built-in firmware controls all the functions of the instrument in eight languages. The instrument can also be used with Konica Minolta SpectraMagic NX to provide extended storage, reporting and analysis.

Contact us for a free consultation with our application specialists and let us assist you on your colour and appearance measurement needs.