Chilly colour analysis using digital image processing

Abstract

In Sri Lanka, the quality evaluation system, especially for food items, is not much automated. Lack of knowledge and ready-made systems at affordable costs pervert use of modern technology for this type of applications. In this study, an attempt was made to develop a system, using digital image processing techniques, to assist quality checking of dried red chillies. In addition, an attempt was made to develop a suitable user interface, and include additional processing functions that could be used during pre-processing of images. The software system developed requires dried red chilly images be digitized and fed to the computer. Once this system is activated, the background noise is removed automatically. Then the user is provided with an interface where desired operations could be done. Operations were provided to analyze the image of the red dried chilly. Results were displayed after performing the operations. According to the results on the area measurement of different colour patches, a decision can be made by the user. In this system, analysis was done according to the colour and the dimensions of the chilly. The developed software worked successfully with the images acquired with a white background.