Assessment of the colour of Parinari curatellifolia fruit using an image processing computer software package

Abstract

  Parinari curatelllifolia fruit whose colour was to be measured were collected from locations close to Harare. The fruits representing a broad range of colour were spread on a flat surface next to the white side of a Kodak grey card. Pictures of the fruit were taken using a Nikon D70 digital camera. The pictures were loaded onto a computer and analysed using Photoshop Version 7 from Adobe. The colour of the fruit from the different sites ranged from green, yellowish to brown with shades of grey. The means of RGB values were significantly different (p<0.05) for more than 80% of fruit from the sites. Quantitative measurement of colour of the fruit was successfully achieved by using the camera and computer with Adobe Photoshop software package.