Quantification of Starch Content in Apples Using Image Analysis and Its Relationships to Physicochemical Properties

The starch content of apples, which is related to the maturity and ripeness, was quantified by using a computer vision system. The stained area was measured by image analysis when an apple slice was stained with KI/I$_2$ solution. The ratio of stained area of the apple slice to its whole area, so called the starch index, was defined as an indicator of the starch content. When Tsugaru apples were manually sorted into immature, turing and mature groups, their starch indices were 0.374, 0.312 and 0.129, respectively. The starch index had relationships to various physicochemical properties of Tsugaru apples. At the statistically significant level of 0.1%, it was correlated with the pH value, bio-yield force, rupture force and color of intact and skin-removed apples. At the 1% significant level, it had the correlation with the density and moisture content.