Application of Image Analysis for Detecting the Browning of Unripe Banana Slices

The unripe banana slices were pretreated with citric acid, L-ascorbic acid, and potassium metabisulfite to minimize the browning of slices to prepare unripe banana powder, which can be stored for a longer duration without deterioration. The browning of pretreated unripe banana slices over a time period was analyzed by browning index, whiteness index, and color change, which were calculated for a Hunterlab colorimeter, and image analysis by using a computer vision system (CVS). CVS is an advanced system used for image analysis of biological material and gives an accurate measure of image parameters. The pretreatment of potassium metabisulfite to unripe banana slices was found out to be the best pretreatment than citric and L-ascorbic acid pretreatments, as it has shown the lower values of the browning index, change in color, and DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) scavenging activity whereas higher values of whiteness index over a period of time. The application of the image analysis by CVS can be executed on an industrial scale to maintain the quality of banana products.