Method and system for indicating edible quality of foods and equipment for use therein

摘要

In the first aspect, the present invention relates to a method for correlating colour intensity to microbial population in foodstuffs, comprising selecting a chromoreactive dye from the group consisting of chromoreactive dyes which change colour on exposure to volatiles which are released by action of microorganisms on a foodstuff; exposing the dye to said volatiles which are released by action of microorganisms on a foodstuff; taking colour intensity measurements; and establishing a correlation between the colour intensity and the microorganism population. In a second aspect, the invention relates to a system for indicating the edible quality of a food sample. In another aspect, the present invention relates to a method of correlating the output of a diffuse reflectance colorimeter to microbial population in foodstuff. In a further aspect, the invention relates to a method of correlating the quality of a foodstuff to the output of a reflectance colorimeter. In yet anotyer aspect, the invention relates to a reflectance colorimeter calibrated for indicating the edible quality of a food sample.