Journal of Food Engineering 109 (2012) 438–448

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Journal of Food Engineering

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jfoodeng

Combination of digital images and laser light to predict moisture content

and color of bell pepper simultaneously during drying
G. Romano ⇑, D. Argyropoulos, M. Nagle, M.T. Khan, J. Müller
Universität Hohenheim, Institute of Agricultural Engineering, Tropics and Subtropics Group, Garbenstrasse 9, 70593 Stuttgart, Germany

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Optical devices are being increasingly used for more accurate and faster ways to investigate quality
Received 20 July 2011 parameters of agricultural products. The main task of this research is to evaluate the use of a CCD camera
Received in revised form 24 October 2011 in combination with laser diodes emitting at 532 nm and 635 nm to monitor changes in moisture content
Accepted 28 October 2011
of red, yellow and green bell pepper during drying. Moreover, the feasibility of using the CCD camera
Available online 11 November 2011
alone to analyze color changes during drying, in alternative to the colorimeter, is assessed. Results
showed that scattering area and light intensity were able to predict moisture content changes of bell pep-
Keywords:
per during drying. While excellent correlations were obtained for yellow colored samples (R = 0.93 and
Bell pepper
Digital images
RMSEP = 7.28), the behavior of green and red wavelengths in peppers with red and green color, respec-
Laser light tively, may raise some doubt on the ability to predict moisture content (R = 0.33 and RMSEP > 22). Addi-
Moisture content tionally, light scattering varied according to the different depths on the surface where the images were
Color taken. Furthermore, it was concluded that a change in tissue structure during drying may have caused
dispersion of photons through the surface resulting in varying degrees of scattering. The presented tech-
nique based on a digital camera and laser diodes shows the potential to be applied in the future as a fast
and modern method for in-line measurements of monitoring moisture content during drying. Digital
images in terms of RGB values have been demonstrated to be a promising alternative to monitor changes
of L⁄ (R = 0.87 and R = 0.90), and a⁄ values (R = 0.93 and R = 0.97), during drying of yellow and green pep-
per. Extensive studies are still required to determine the suitability of digital images for analysis of b⁄ val-
ues at different colors of bell pepper.
Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Bell pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) is typically marketed in both,
fresh and dried forms. Although hot-air convective drying is a
widely used technique for the preparation and conservation of
spices, improper dehydration affects the overall quality of the final
product. Color and moisture content are the most important
parameters of bell pepper which are influenced during the drying
process (Simal et al., 2005; Ramesh et al., 2001). Consumers are
mostly attracted by intensity of the surface color, which indicates
the quantity of pigments, namely nutritive carotenoids, and
determines the economic value (Minguez-Mosquera et al., 1992).
A critical issue in the food industry is to continuously monitor
changes during drying in order to prevent over-drying and to
minimize quality losses.
In other studies, color of bell pepper has been analyzed in terms
of CIELAB coordinates using a colorimeter before and after drying
(Arslan and Ozcan, 2011; Vega-Galvez et al., 2009). However, mea-
⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +49 71145923112; fax: +49 71145923298.
E-mail address: giuseppe.romano@uni-hohenheim.de (G. Romano).
surements of color changes during drying have not been performed
so far. Additionally, the surface area measured by the colorimeter
is rather small (around 2 cm2) and considerable time is required
to make repeated evaluations of the same sample (Hutchings
et al., 2002). Moreover, contact measurements are logistically
undesirable and may even negatively affect the final quality. Con-
sequently, results with high level of uncertainty might be obtained
causing error in the analysis (Aguilera, 2003). With respect to
moisture content, the most common laboratory method for agri-
cultural products is the gravimetric oven method. Karl Fisher titra-
tion is a more accurate technique used to measure the moisture
content of food products, but requires toxic chemicals and is costly.
More recently, infrared moisture analyzers have been used to
determine moisture content during drying of paprika (Faustino
et al., 2007). However, these methods are all destructive and do
not allow the use of the samples for further analyses.
Nowadays, interest in using innovative, non-contact measure-
ments for monitoring food quality is increasing. Advanced tech-
niques, consisting of a computer, an imaging system and
software for data analysis have been used for more an accurate
and faster way to investigate quality parameters. When compared

0260-8774/$ - see front matter Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jfoodeng.2011.10.037
 G. Romano et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 109 (2012) 438–448
Nomenclature
A532 scattering area at 532 nm wavelength
A635 scattering area at 635 nm wavelength
IL light intensity
MC moisture content
biascor difference between measured and predicted values
SEPbiascor standard error of prediction after bias correction
to a colorimeter, a digital camera has the advantage of acquiring a
large number of images providing continuous information on dif-
ferent areas of the sample without contact between the device
and object (Kang et al., 2008). Imaging technology has also the abil-
ity to obtain the color of any pixel in the red, green and blue (RGB)
bands. Different models have been tested in order to transform
RGB readings into L⁄a⁄b⁄ color values (Leon et al., 2006). However,
RGB measurements obtained from a camera are device dependent
and calibration of the optical system is required (Mendoza et al.,
2006).
Optical systems are currently established for sorting, monitor-
ing of defects and bruising of horticultural products (Brosnan and
Sun, 2002; Blasco et al., 2003, 2009). Moreover, a recent approach
was established by Zsom et al. (2010), to analyze surface color
changes of fresh capsicum during storage. However, only a limited
number of studies are available on the subject of using optical
methods to monitor color change of food products continuously
during drying under different conditions. Fernandez et al. (2005)
reported a method based on computer imaging to analyze shrink-
age, color and texture of apple disc during drying. Similar research
with an optical technique was conducted by Mohebbi et al. (2009),
to estimate color for classification of shrimps during dehydration.
In this respect, further investigation is required with a wider range
of products, including those with multiple colors, such as bell pep-
per, in order to assess the feasibility of a visual system device to
monitor the color change during the drying process.
The scattering behavior of light in a material is a result of the
projection of photons at different angles due physicochemical
properties of the material as well as interactions with molecules.
When a light source impinges a moist sample (e.g. fresh fruit), pho-
tons disseminate through the product surface, which determines
the scattering area. Interestingly, the scattering of measurable pho-
tons is reduced when samples lose moisture (Romano et al., 2010).
Other studies have shown that photons migrate in a greater back-
ward direction in samples, which are composed of softer tissue as
compared to firmer tissues with more robust cell walls and less
intracellular space (Peng and Lu, 2006). In the aforementioned
study, a close relationship between the pixel number of the scat-
tering area from fruit surface of peaches and the actual contents
of moisture and soluble solids was observed. A relationship be-
tween laser light with soluble solid content and firmness of apple
by using algorithms was performed by Qing et al. (2007, 2008). Dif-
ferent stages of maturity were successfully predicted by using laser
diodes in the visible and near infrared light spectrum. Moreover,
results obtained with laser at 670 nm were comparable to those
collected using a non-destructive acoustic method for the evalua-
tion of tomato firmness (Tu et al., 2000).
The main advantages of laser diodes when compared with other
optical techniques, for example NIR-spectroscopy (Zude et al.,
2006, 2007; Penchaiya et al., 2009) is that they are lower in cost,
smaller in size and generally more portable. Additionally, there is
no need to perform spectral analysis, which is fundamental to
NIR techniques, including hyperspectral imaging (Lu, 2004; Peng
and Lu, 2007; Lleo et al., 2009). Furthermore, light scattering
439
RMSEP root mean square error of prediction
^pi
y predicted values
yi measured values
n number of the samples
behavior allows for simultaneous prediction of food quality param-
eters. A recent study conducted by Romano et al. (2011), docu-
mented the possibility to predict contents of moisture and
soluble solids in apple slices continuously during the drying pro-
cess using laser light at 635 nm and a CCD camera. This innovative
method provided the basis for future development of in-line mon-
itoring of quality during drying of agricultural products. However,
before transferring this technology to practice, more detailed
experiments must be carried out and more agricultural products
should be tested. Therefore, the main objective of this research is
to evaluate the use of a CCD camera in combination with laser
diodes emitting at wavelengths of 532 and 635 nm to monitor
changes in moisture content of the bell pepper during drying,
based on changes of scattering behavior in the material. It is also
intended to determine whether this apparatus will allow the accu-
rate monitoring of changes in tissue morphology during drying,
due to alterations of photon dissemination. Additionally, the feasi-
bility of using the CCD camera alone to analyze color changes dur-
ing drying, in alternative to the colorimeter, is assessed as well.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Raw material
Bell pepper (C. annuum L.) fruits in three different colors red,
yellow and green were purchased from the local market in Stutt-
gart (Germany) and stored at 4 °C in a refrigerator for a maximum
of 5 days. The samples were washed, cut in slices with an approx-
imate thickness of 6 ± 0.4 mm and used for the experiments.
2.2. Convective drying
Thin layer drying experiments were carried out using a high
precision laboratory dryer developed at the Institute of Agricul-
tural Engineering, University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart (Germany).
The experimental system essentially consists of four units: (i) an
air flow control unit, (ii) an air conditioning unit with a thermo-
stat-controlled water bath and sprayed Raschig-ring bed, (iii) a
heating control unit with primary and secondary heating elements
and (iv) two drying compartments to provide either through-flow
or over-flow air stream for convective drying of products. A de-
tailed description of the dryer has been given by Argyropoulos
et al. (2011). Thin layers with a mass of approximately 300 g of bell
peppers were used for each trial. The dryer was preheated for
30 min to reach the defined set points. Then, the material was
evenly distributed on a round perforated tray (diameter:
340 mm) and positioned in the through-flow mode of the dryer.
Convective drying of bell peppers was conducted at air tempera-
tures of 60 and 80 °C for 12 and 7 h, respectively, and the corre-
sponding relative humidity for each temperature was evaluated
by maintaining an absolute humidity of 10 g water per kg of dry
air at a constant air velocity of 0.9 m/s. The experiments were rep-
licated three times for each drying condition. During the drying
440 G. Romano et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 109 (2012) 438–448
process, samples of 10 slices were obtained from the dryer every
60 min and brought to the optical laboratory before carrying out
the destructive reference measurements.
2.3. Laboratory analysis of moisture content and color
The moisture content, expressed in percent wet basis (% w.b.),
was measured by the gravimetric method using a laboratory con-
vection oven (Memmert 500, Schwabach, Germany) at 103 ± 2 °C
until a constant weight was reached. The moisture content was
evaluated for the fresh as well as for the dried samples at each
interval. The mean value of three measurements was calculated.
The same slices were also used for image acquisition. The surface
color of bell pepper was determined using a Minolta Chroma-me-
ter (CR-400 Minolta Co. Ltd., Japan). The instrument was calibrated
with a standard white plate at D65 illumination before taking mea-
surements (Y = 93.7, x = 0.3158, y = 0.3324). Two measurements
were performed per slice by placing the colorimeter head above
the inner (flesh) and outer surface (cuticle).
2.4. Set-up of the optical system
The optical system included two continuous wave laser diodes
used as light sources operating at wavelengths of 532 (green)
and 635 (red) nm. The green laser had a power of 0.85 mW
(LDM115P, Imatronic, Herts, UK) and a beam size of
2.0  2.0 mm; while the red laser had a power of 1 mW (Global La-
ser, Gwent, UK) and a beam size of 2.5  2.5 mm. The lasers were
positioned on stands placed to the left (532 nm) and right
(635 nm) side of the digital CCD camera (PAX Cam P1-CMO, Villa
Park IL, USA) at an angle of 30°. The resolution of the camera was
1280  1024 pixels (Yam and Papadakis, 2004) and the laser light
for each wavelength was applied separately at locations on the
slice surface free from visible defects. Samples were positioned at
a distance of 22 cm under the camera lens (Romano et al., 2008).
To minimize light interference and thus image disturbance, expo-
sure and contrast of the camera were setting at the maximum va-
lue with saturation of 1.74. Laser light was applied on the inner and
outer surfaces of the slices to investigate the influence of the sur-
face properties on the photon migration and resulting scattering.
Light scattering was represented by the illuminated area described
as the total reflectance which is the sum of the directly reflected
light (angle of reflection equal to the angle of incidence) and the
diffused reflectance (radiation reflected at other angles). Images
of sample slices were captured fresh and at each drying interval
and analyzed using the Pax-It software (MIS, Villa Park, IL, USA).
In addition, a halogen lamp was used as light source to illumi-
nate each sample. Since the color values obtained from the camera
are device-dependent, a pre-calibration is required to improve the
quality of the images (Mendoza et al., 2006). To this end, the color
settings of the camera and the exposure time were adjusted by
using black and white standards on the sample platform until a
peak appeared, indicating that the colors were as close as possible
to human perception. The RGB values of each picture were calcu-
lated with Image J software (rsbweb.nih.gov/ij) based on pixel
information after selecting the outlined sample image area.
2.5. Optical parameters to predict quality parameters
Light intensity and scattering area were evaluated to predict the
moisture content of fresh bell pepper and at each drying interval.
Scattering area was calculated with Pixcavator software 5.0 by
automatically selecting the illuminated area for each image as a re-
sult of photon migration in the fruit tissue from the laser light.
Light intensity (IL) with values ranging from 0 (black) to 255
(white) was calculated using Eq. (1), (Gonzalez and Woods, 1992):
IL ¼ 0:3red þ 0:6green þ 0:1blue ð1Þ
where red, green and blue represent the RGB pixel values.
The Pearson correlation test and Welch’s t-test (CI = 95%) were
used to assess the influence of differences in outer and inner sur-
face properties with respect photon migration in the sample tis-
sues. Additionally, calibration and validation models were
calculated in R statistical software in order to evaluate the effec-
tiveness of each wavelength to predict moisture content of the bell
pepper samples. For the cross validation, 75% of the data set was
used for calibration and 25% was used for validation. The accuracy
of the model was calculated by the root mean square error of pre-
diction after validation (RMSEP) (Eq. (2)) and standard error of pre-
diction after bias correction (SEPbiascor) (Eq. (3)), where bias (Eq. (4)
represents the difference between measured and predicted values
(Naes et al., 2002):
sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
Pn 2
^
i¼1 ðyP i  yi Þ
RMSEP ¼ ð2Þ
n
sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
Pn 2
^
i¼1 ðyP i  yi  biasÞ
SEPbiascor ¼ ð3Þ
n1
Pn
^  yi Þ
i¼1 ðyP i
bias ¼ ð4Þ
n
where y^Pi – predicted values, yi – measured values, n – number of
samples.
Linear mixed models were applied and the relative variability
(%) was calculated to determine the effect of fruit maturity stage
(expressed by the fruit color: yellow, green and red) and of the dif-
ferent wavelengths on the scattering area from the sample surface.
2.6. Microscopic investigation of surface properties
A stereo microscope (SZ2-200, View Solutions Inc., Rancho
Cucamonga, CA, USA) with optical magnification up to 100
was used to observe changes in tissue morphology of bell pepper
during drying and to relate these changes to the effects caused by
moisture evaporation on tissue properties and consequently on
laser images. The digital CCD camera previously described, was
mounted onto the microscope to acquire images. Three slices
were randomly selected for each drying time interval at air tem-
perature of 80 °C and observed under the microscope. Samples
were put on a white plate and images were taken on the cuticu-
lar (outer) surface at the same location where the laser light was
applied.
2.7. Conversion from RGB standard color to CIELAB color space
To study the feasibility of the CCD camera to analyze color
changes, images of five pepper slices were taken fresh and at each
drying interval and the RGB values obtained were converted in CIE
XYZ system with the following equation (Hunt, 1991):
X ¼ k1 R þ k2 G þ k3 B
Y ¼ k4 R þ k5 G þ k6 B ð5Þ
Z ¼ k7 R þ k8 G þ k9 B
where R, G, B are the three pixel grayscale components (red, green
and blue) and X, Y, Z are the tri-stimulus values in the CIE 1931 sys-
tem; and k1–k9 are standard coefficients (International Telecommu-
nication Union, 2002). The obtained X, Y, Z values were then
converted into CIE L⁄a⁄b⁄ values (Eq. (6)) (Hunt, 1991):
 G. Romano et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 109 (2012) 438–448 441

 13
Y 3. Results and discussion
L ¼ 116  16
Yn
" 1  1 # 3.1. Relationship between light intensity and moisture content
X 3 Y 3
a ¼ 500  ð6Þ
Xn Yn Changes in moisture content significantly influenced (p < 0.001)
" 1  1 #
the light intensity in all samples. Fig. 1 shows the relationship be-
 Y 3 Z 3
b ¼ 200  tween light intensity and moisture content of green, red and yel-
Yn Zn
low samples for all data sets (60 and 80 °C). In particular, the
Xn, Yn and Zn (0.95; 1.0; 1.08) represent the X, Y, Z values of the highest direct relationship (R2 = 0.95) between light intensity and
European Broadcasting Union with reference white at D65 illumi- moisture content was observed for yellow samples. As drying pro-
nation (Nobbs and Connolly, 2000). Due to moisture evaporation, ceeded, a decrease in light intensity could be noticed in parallel
the sample surface during vegetable drying is expected to shrink. with moisture content. Lower coefficients of determination
To reduce the curvature effect which can influence the accuracy (R2 = 0.63 and 0.58) were obtained for red and green fruits, respec-
of L⁄a⁄b⁄ measurements, CIE color space were normalized accord- tively, which showed more or less irregular values when compared
ing the following equations (Eq. (7)) (Mendoza et al., 2006) to the yellow samples. This might be explained by the fact that

 pepper slices with higher moisture content showed smooth and
L rounded surfaces (Fig. 2), which produce shadow effects during
L normalized ¼
100 the image acquisition (Mendoza et al., 2006). This was true mainly
  
a þ 120 for red and green fruits which were less bright than yellow fruits.
a normalized ¼ ð7Þ
240 Shadows can reduce the light intensity which influences values to-
   ward the white spectrum (255) and away from the black (0). Addi-
b þ 120
b normalized ¼ tionally, light intensity is irregularly distributed on the slice
240
surface with a consequent increase mainly observed during the
early stages of drying for green and red fruits with moisture con-
tent between 85% and 95%. As a result of moisture evaporation,
the surface structure becomes more brittle, visible shrinkage oc-
curs caused by a reduction of sample volume and less direct re-
flected light is detected by the digital camera. Light intensity will
also decrease because of the discoloration of the dried sample with
lower moisture content. Visually, a darker surface color in yellow
fruits is clearly noticeable with the advancement of drying
(Fig. 2), which is confirmed by a sharper decrease of light intensity
compared to green and red samples, which did not show as much
visual change in color.
Fig. 3 displays histograms showing the distribution of light
intensity for fresh and dried samples. The total pixel count found
at the corresponding light intensity is also presented. It can be ob-
served that the peak of the pixel number decreases in parallel with
moisture content because of the reduction in reflected and diffused
Fig. 1. Light intensity IL vs. moisture content for different colored bell pepper
samples during drying at 60 and 80 °C. light on the dried sample. Additionally, discoloration is indicated

Fig. 2. Changes in color and direct reflection of light (white areas) on digital images from the surfaces of different colored bell pepper samples during drying at 80 °C.
442 G. Romano et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 109 (2012) 438–448

wavelengths of 532 and 635 nm. In addition, differences in break-

ing forces between the skin and flesh have been documented for
bell pepper during drying (Guine and Barroca, 2011). Moreover,
drying temperatures above 60 °C have been suggested to cause
the collapse in cell structure, resulting in reduced tissue hardness
of the product (Vega-Galvez et al., 2008). Thus, it could be hypoth-
esized that laser images can be influenced by differences in hard-
ness between the cuticle and flesh. Non-destructive monitoring
of tissue hardening at distinct tissue depths by means of laser tech-
nology may represent a relevant methodological advancement,
which can be exploited for large-scale industrial applications.

3.2.2. Prediction of moisture content by scattering area in relation to

Fig. 3. Total pixel count vs. light intensity IL for fresh and dried samples.
by the fact that the distribution of pixels in the selected dried sam-
ple move closer toward the black end of the spectrum.
3.2. Laser light propagation within the fruit tissue during drying
3.2.1. Influence of surface properties on photon migration (scattering)
Table 1 presents correlation results between the scattering
areas measured on the inner (fleshy) and outer (cuticular) surfaces
of the different colored slices over the whole drying process. Statis-
tical results are given showing the highest similarity (R = 0.97) was
found between cuticle and flesh measurements in yellow samples
at 532 nm. Similar results were obtained with red and yellow sam-
ples at 635 nm (R = 0.95) and green samples at 532 nm (R = 0.90).
Despite these high correlations, other samples showed low compa-
rability (R = 0.33) and significant differences (p < 0.05), namely
measurements at 532 and 635 nm on red and green samples,
respectively. This implies that scattering measurements can be af-
fected by the surface properties of the fruit tissue and, although
they might be correlated in some cases, are statistically
inconsistent.
Surface morphology can influence water evaporation, which in
turn can determine changes in scattering. It has been shown that
water evaporation is inversely correlated with cuticle thickness
(Banaras et al., 1994). Therefore, thickness changes during drying
could influence the penetration of photons within the tissue at
Table 1
Statistical analysis from mean values of scattering area at 532 and 635 nm on the
inner and outer surfaces of bell pepper slices during the whole drying process.
Welch’s t-test (p-value) Pearson correlation (r)
Wavelength 532 nm 635 nm 532 nm
Yellow 0.88 0.001* 0.97
Green 6.582e07* 1.502e15* 0.90
Red 2.879e16* 0.08 0.33
Residuals 420 420
* used to predict moisture content during the whole drying process
p-value < 0.05, significantly different with an error probability of 5%.
sample color
Logarithmic equations were fitted to the data to assess the rela-
tionship between scattering area and moisture content from the
different colored samples. Calibration models to predict moisture
content are presented and evaluated in Table 2. Values take into
account both drying temperatures and averaged values of scatter-
ing area from the inner and outer surfaces at each 60-min drying
interval. The highest relationships to scattering area were obtained
with yellow samples at both wavelengths (R2 = 0.89 and 0.93) and
green samples at 532 nm (R2 = 0.89) and red samples at 635 nm
(R2 = 0.90). On the contrary, weak correlations (R2 = 0.33) with a
high standard error (>0.26) were obtained between scattering area
for red samples at 532 nm and green samples at 635 nm. This is
most probably due to the influence of strong absorption bands
by capsorubin at 522 nm (Curl, 1962) and chlorophyll b at around
650 nm (Wellburn, 1994).
The validation results for calibration models to predict moisture
content based on the scattering area are shown in Figs. 4 and 5. The
corresponding prediction models are also presented. For model
estimation, a non-linear regression was applied with predicted val-
ues converted into the logarithmic scale. The cross validation
shows that moisture content change in yellow samples could be
predicted reliably with light either in the red with SEP = 8.90 and
green spectrum with SEP = 7.30 (Fig. 4a and b). Similar result
was also obtained with laser light at 532 nm and 635 nm for green
and red samples with SEP of 9.97 and 8.80, respectively (Fig. 4c and
d). Higher SEP > 22 indicates that green and red light was not accu-
rate to predict moisture content in samples with complimentary
colors (Fig. 5a and b). Moreover, the high SEP could be related to
a change in sample volume at each drying interval which has not
been taken into account in the calibration data set (Nicolai et al.,
2007). This can be explained due to the fact that yellow tissue is
more transparent to the incident light waves compared to the
red and green fruits. Thus, the photons travel longer distances
through the tissue which results in more scattering. Since within
635 nm
a transparent material, some amount of photons may be transmit-
ted on the opposite side of the surface. Additional study might be
0.95
0.33
useful to quantify the ratio between transmitted/scattered photons
0.95 during water evaporation from the surface. Variance component
analysis revealed that 37% of the variance in scattering images
was influenced by surface color. However, 63% of the variance in

Table 2
Correlations between moisture content MC and scattering area (A532, A635) with calibration models, standard error of residuals (residuals = 210) and coefficient of determination
(R2).

532 nm 635 nm
Model Std. error R2 Model Std. error R2
Yellow MC ¼ 23:9  logðA532 Þ  167:5 6.91 0.93 MC ¼ 47:8  logðA635 Þ  409:8 8.86 0.89
Green MC ¼ 28:6  logðA532 Þ  188 9.81 0.89 MC ¼ 55:5  logðA635 Þ  355:4 26.34 0.33
Red MC ¼ 37:3  logðA532 Þ  215 22.71 0.33 MC ¼ 49:2  logðA635 Þ  420:1 8.80 0.90
 G. Romano et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 109 (2012) 438–448 443

Fig. 4. Validation analysis for predicting moisture content from scattering area of yellow (a, b), green (c) and red (d) bell pepper at 532 nm and 635 nm.

Fig. 5. Validation analysis for predicting moisture content from scattering area of red (a) and green (b) bell pepper at opposite laser light wavelengths.

scattering images was influenced by the interaction between both
wavelengths and product color surface combined (residual error).
Box plots in Fig. 6 show changes in scattering area on yellow,
green and red fruit surfaces by averaging values at 532 and
635 nm and at three levels of moisture content: high, intermediate
and low. On the top of the box plots, laser images at 532 nm from
representative samples are also presented for each interval of
moisture content. Visually, it is possible to distinguish direct re-
flected light (white–blue in the center), corresponding to the inci-
dent point of laser light, and backscattering representing diffuse
reflectance (green illuminated part). Decreases in scattering area
in parallel with moisture content can be noticed for yellow sam-
ples (Fig. 6a). Relatively less and more consistent scattering was
observed when green and red light was applied in red and green
slice surfaces, respectively (Fig. 6b). Analysis of variance (ANOVA)
showed that scattering areas calculated in red and green spectrum
were significantly influenced by changes in moisture content in
yellow slices during drying (p < 0.001). However, low levels of sig-
nificance (p < 0.1) were obtained when using 635 and 532 nm to
monitor change in moisture content for green and red samples,
respectively.
3.2.3. Physicochemical changes during drying and influence on laser
light measurements
According to the laws of optics, when a light wave of a certain
frequency strikes a material with molecules having the same vibra-
tional frequencies, then those molecules will absorb the energy of
the light and transform it into vibrational motion. When samples
have high moisture content, the photons move in different direc-
tions within the tissue after light injection. The molecules across
the slice surface interact with photons, which are reflected diffu-
sively at different angles causing the scattering area to be larger.
Fruit tissues with lower moisture content present an undulated
surface and opaque tissue altered by browning reactions, which re-
duce the interactions between light and tissues. Brown points ob-
served on samples during drying (Fig. 7) might be due to the
oxidation because of prolonged exposure (Von Elle and Schwartz,
1996) and to the degradation of ascorbic acid which can cause dis-
444 G. Romano et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 109 (2012) 438–448

Fig. 6. Scattering area at different levels of moisture content for (a) yellow bell pepper and for (b) red and green bell pepper at 532 and 635 nm (For interpretation of the
references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.).

Fig. 7. Microscope images showing change in tissue structure of yellow bell peppers during drying, including (a) water droplets on fresh sample (93% moisture content), (b)
cavities with air after 1 h drying and (c) dried sample with undulated surface and dark points, inset with corresponding laser image at 532 nm (For interpretation of the
references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.).

coloration on the pepper surface by drying at higher temperatures
(Di Scala and Crapiste, 2008).
An influence of fruit pigments on the scattering of the visible
light in the green and red spectrum should be expected. Since chlo-
rophylls are one of the major pigment groups present in green bell
peppers (Sakaldas and Kaynas, 2010), absorption of red light was
considered to be higher (Tu et al., 2000), resulting in less scattering
and a decrease in the total pixel number. A similar pattern was ob-
served when green light was projected on red samples. As fruits ri-
pen, the color changes from green to yellow and eventually red due
to chlorophyll degradation, and thus, scattering at 635 nm in-
creases. Carotenoids such as capsanthin and capsorubin accumu-
late during ripening in bell peppers and are responsible for the
final red color of fruits (Topuz and Ozdemir, 2007). At 532 nm,
strong absorption by capsorubin is probable and minimal degrada-
tion of this pigment is expected during drying (Kim et al., 2004).
Thus, the amount of photon migration in the tissue of red samples
would be notably reduced over the whole drying process indicated
by a low, consistent amount scattering due to constant absorption
(Fig. 6b). These results are comparable with those obtained from
Merzylak et al. (2003), which found high correlation between lab-
oratory measurements of carotenoids and reflectance in the green
light at 532 nm. In the present study, this phenomenon was not ob-
served in yellow and green samples because the amounts of
carotenoids are lower in these samples. However, extended studies
should be performed to elucidate the effect of pigment changes
during drying on light propagation in fruit tissue. Therefore, Monte
Carlo simulation will be performed in future studies to relate the
optical properties of a product to chemical compounds (Baranyai
and Zude, 2008, 2009) and pigment analyses will be carried out
for reference.
From a structural perspective, it was reported by Gunasekaran
et al. (1985), that when the incident photons hit on the undulate
surface, more time is required before being reflected, making it log-
ical to have a lower scattering area than on a flat surface. It can be
speculated that in product with opaque tissue, the molecules on
the product surface present a shorter vibrational motion and also
the amplitude of the vibrations will be shorter. Due to this phe-
nomenon, the interaction with the photons is also reduced which
migrate a shorter distance and are less dispersed through the tis-
sue causing reduced scattering area. Higher variability of scattering
area was found in samples with higher moisture content. Further-
more, moisture content is irregularly distributed on the pepper
surface during drying, for example in puddles or droplets
(Fig. 7a), making it possible that the laser light strikes areas of var-
iable water content. Additionally, in the early stages of drying,
product surfaces show small swelling cavities where water volume
is being replaced with air (Fig. 7b). Due to these incidences, pho-
tons can be expected to be differentially dispersed through the sur-
face resulting in varying degrees of scattering.
 G. Romano et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 109 (2012) 438–448 445

During analysis, when water evaporation from the tissue is in-
tense, irregularities in the slice surface (Fig. 7c) can affect the angle
of the light incidence as well as the length of the light path within
the tissue. To address this issue, Monte Carlo simulation would be
needed to examine the distribution of pixels from the injection
point until the detection limit within the scattering area (Baranyai
and Zude, 2008, 2009). It can be also observed that the shape of the
collected images may be altered from round (Fig. 7a) to irregular
(Fig. 7c) with abnormal pixels, which distort the total reflection as
well as photon scattering distance. Therefore, corrections of the
scattering images would be necessary (Peng and Lu, 2006).
3.3. Color changes during drying
3.3.1. CIE L⁄a⁄b⁄
Convective hot air drying affected significantly the surface color
of bell peppers as expressed by the CIELAB color space. The exper-
imental results of the CIE L⁄a⁄b⁄ values for the red, yellow and

Fig. 8. Color change as determined by colorimeter indicated by CIE L⁄ (a, b), a⁄ (c, d), b⁄ values (e, f) of red, yellow and green bell pepper during drying at temperatures of 60
and 80 °C.
446 G. Romano et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 109 (2012) 438–448
green peppers as a function of moisture content during drying at
60 and 80 °C are shown in Fig. 8. At both drying temperatures,
the yellow fruits exhibited a higher initial L⁄ value when compared
to the red and green materials (Fig. 8a and b). Nevertheless, the L⁄
value of all bell pepper colors decreased continuously during the
drying process. The lower L⁄ values indicated that the samples
turned darker, an effect that was more severe as drying proceeded,
particularly at lower moisture contents. A more pronounced reduc-
tion of L⁄ values was observed for all samples at the higher drying
temperature of 80 °C. The a⁄ values of green and yellow samples
(Fig. 8c and d) tended to increase during drying at both 60 and
80 °C, although this effect was more pronounced at 80 °C. Accord-
ing to Rocha et al. (1993) and Ihl et al. (1994), the reduction of
green color during drying is caused by breakdown of chlorophyll,
which has an intense blue–green color, to pheophyhn with brown
color (Forni et al., 1988). On the other hand, red samples showed a
slight decrease in a⁄ values after 6 h of drying. This is most likely
attributed to heat degradation of carotenoids (Di Scala and Crap-
iste, 2008; Miranda et al., 2009), and the presence of molecular
oxygen (Minquez-Mosquera and Hornero-Mendez, 1994), which
can increase in parallel during drying under dark conditions. Con-
cerning b⁄ values (Fig. 8e and f), a remarkable stability of this
parameter was found for the green fruits while comparing fresh
and dried samples. Yellow peppers showed a gradual increase in
b⁄ values, while an initial increase was followed by a reduction of
the b⁄ values in the red samples at 60 °C. According to Maskan
(2001), the decrease of b⁄ values can be explained by the chloro-
phyll decomposition and to non-enzymatic reactions during drying
(Vega-Galvez et al., 2009).
3.3.2. Relationship between CIE L⁄a⁄b⁄ and normalized L, a, b values
obtained from RGB
Fig. 9 presents results of correlations between CIE L⁄a⁄b⁄ values
measured by colorimeter and the normalized L, a, b values ob-
tained from RGB values after digital image acquisition. The best re-
Fig. 9. Relationship between CIE L⁄, a⁄, b⁄ and normalized L, a, b values (a, b, c) for different colored bell pepper samples; averaged values of three replications at both 60 and
80 °C air drying temperatures are presented.
sults was found for yellow and green samples, where a⁄–a values
(Fig. 9b) had the highest correlation coefficients (R = 0.93 and
0.97, respectively) and L⁄–L values (Fig. 9a) yielded R = 0.87 and
0.90, respectively. A lower, yet significant (p < 0.001), correlation
(R = 0.74 and 0.72) was obtained between b⁄ and normalized b val-
ues of red and yellow samples, respectively (Fig. 9c). No significant
correlation was found between colorimeter data and digital images
in analyses of b⁄ values during drying of green pepper. A moderate
correlation was obtained between normalized lab and CIE L⁄a⁄b⁄ of
red pepper. An explanation could be supported by the fact that
glossiness of the surface in red pepper samples may have affected
color variations during the image acquisition (Mendoza et al.,
2006).
It should be pointed out that the difference in the absolute val-
ues between colorimeter readings and normalized color values ob-
tained with digital images were probably due to the larger area
analyzed with the optical device (Kang et al., 2008). Moreover,
the light emitted by the halogen lamp was mainly focalized on a
small area of the bell pepper surface and, therefore, it may be con-
sidered as background noise when calculating the RGB values.
Positioning a translucent diffusion film below the halogen lamp,
which scatters the light (Chmiel et al., 2011), might help to diffuse
the light homogeneously on the bell pepper surface and to improve
the color data transformation.
4. Conclusions
The presented technique based on a digital camera and laser
diodes could be applied as a fast and reliable method for in-line
measurements of moisture content changes during drying of bell
peppers. Although excellent results were obtained for yellow sam-
ples, the behavior of green and red light in peppers with compli-
mentary colors raise questions concerning their ability to predict
a change in moisture content of the fruits. Evidently, the color of
 G. Romano et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 109 (2012) 438–448
the product needs to be considered for the selection of adequate la-
ser wavelengths. The influence of direct reflected light due to
changes in surface structure may disturb the image acquisition.
Microscope images indicated an alternation in tissue structure dur-
ing the drying process of bell pepper which had a remarkable effect
on the photon migration. The wavelengths used showed a sensitiv-
ity to sample color and to different depths on the surface where the
images were acquired. It can be speculated that thickness alterna-
tions occurred as drying proceeded, which might have changed the
photon migration on the sample surface. Digital images in terms of
RGB values have been demonstrated to be a promising alternative
to monitor changes of L⁄ and a⁄ values during drying of yellow and
green pepper. In further studies, the repeatability and reproducibil-
ity of the experiment should be improved by increasing the num-
ber of measurements at different areas of the material in order to
obtain more information on the overall tissue. Overall, extensive
studies are still required to determine the suitability of digital
images for analysis of b⁄ values at different colors of bell pepper.
Acknowledgments
This study was conducted within the framework of the project
‘Unraveling the potential of neglected crop diversity for high-value
product differentiation and income generation for the poor: the
case of chili pepper in its center of origin’ lead by Bioversity Inter-
national in close coordination with partners in Peru, Bolivia and
Germany. We are thankful for the financial support of the Deutsche
Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and the Fed-
eral Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
We also would like to acknowledge Anna Koltakova for assisting
in primary data collection.
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