Determination of Internal Color of Beef Ribeye Steaks Using Digital Image Analysis

Objective measurements of beef ribeye steaks were made to determine the color distribution throughout their interior after heat processing. Steaks from eight animals were grilled to five degrees of doneness according to traditional internal temperature specifications. Images of the interior of these steaks, as seen by a digital image processing system through red, green, and blue filters were analyzed. The mean, standard deviation, skewness, and kurtosis of the histograms of light intensity at all points throughout the surface were determined. The steaks were also analyzed raw and it was determined that little variation in the color of muscle tissue occurred among steaks from the different animals used. The statistics computed were analyzed to determine which could be used to classify steak doneness. It was found that the mean and standard deviation values for each of the three colors are sufficient to differentiate between eight of the ten pal rs of steak doneness classes