Quantitative determination of sunset yellow concentration in soft drinks via digital image processing

Image processing technique (IPT) can be used to evaluate the quality of food and drink products. Therefore, this study was focused on the relationship between colorimetric parameters of IPT and different concentrations of sunset yellow in Miranda soft drink. The amount of the sunset yellow color in Miranda soft drink were assessed using HPLC and a specific doses of 0, 25, 60, 90, 120 and 150 mg kg−1 sunset yellow were maintained for this study. The image processing results showed that with increasing the concentration of sunset yellow, all colorimetric values were changed except for b* values. Regression analysis between colorimetric parameters and sunset yellow showed a significant multivariate linear relationship (P < 0.05) with a high coefficient of determination (R2adjusted = 98.7). The results showed that the predictive equation could be used to estimate the concentration of sunset yellow color in Miranda soft drink. The result of the present study showed that digital image processing technique approach can be a successful tool for the prediction of sunset yellow concentration in drink products. Therefore, IPT could be a potential prediction tool for determining the quantity of synthetic colorant in the food and drink products.