Determination of Turkish-type fermented sausage colour by a reflectance method

An objective method is described for the determination of Turkish-type fermented sausage colour. The method is based on reflectance measurements and specified as (R570−R525)(R650−R525). This ratio was simply termed as the TSC value (Turkish sausage characteristics) and was compared with 14 other objective values. The correlation coefficient of the TSC value with panel scores was higher than those of the other objective values except the CIE y value. The other 13 objective values were CIE xz, L∗a∗b∗, L∗C∗H ° Hunter Lab, RSI, NI and percentage nitrosomyoglobin (NOMb) pigment. Correlation coefficients of CIE y and TSC values are -0.901 and -0.875, respectively. TSC value is a measure of both pigment nitrosation and pigment discoloration and more useful than the RSI value. A regression equation was estimated for calculating scores from TSC values. This regression equation was converted to a table to determine the grade for colour of fermented sausages.