IMAGE ANALYSIS OF TRIACYLGLYCEROLS CRYSTALLIZING UNDER SHEAR FLOW

Abstract

The processing conditions of edible fats determine the crystalline structure of a product. This affects the product’s texture, flavor, mouthfeel, moisture content, etc. To improve the available image analysis tools for TAGs crystallization two types of methods were devised and tested: Firstly, a “histogram and texture classification” procedure, followed by a hierarchical clustering method was developed. The procedure was successful at establishing clear relationships between the processing conditions and the characteristic histograms and textures of the micrographs. Secondly, characteristic fast Fourier transform images, CFFT, were created from the two-dimensional Fast Fourier Transform power spectra of the micrographs. Then, the correlations between time-matched pairs of CFFT images were averaged to obtain correlation values between pairs of experiments. These correlation values were used to produce pair distances. Additional analysis were done on onset times, histogram intensities, and size and orientation that will help develop better understanding of the crystallization processes of fats.