Image Analysis Method as Quality Control and Research Tool for Characterizing Pizza Blisters

摘要

The increase in popularity of pizza has led to the growth of the mozzarella cheese industry. In 1993, the annual sales in the pizza industry were about $30 billion, and the total value of cheese sold for pizza is estimated to be over $3 billion in the USA. A significant portion of the sales are through pizza chains which impose strict specifications on mozzarella cheese quality such as flavor, color, stretch, and melt, as well as size, coverage, and color of blisters. Blisters on pizza are produced during the baking. The intensity of browning is affected by baking conditions, that is, time and temperature of the oven, as well as the concentrations of reactive amino acid and carbohydrate in the cheese. There may be a number of factors affecting the size, coverage, and color of blister. Thus, an image analysis program was developed for the purpose of quantitatively measuring and objectively evaluating blisters. Using the image analysis program, the count, area coverage, size, and color intensity of blisters on pizza affected by the age of mozzarella were compared.