Estimation of fat content in fermented sausages by means of Computer Vision System (CVS)

The aim of this study was to investigate the possibility of computer vision system (CVS) application in fat content estimation for different types of fermented sausages. Four different types of local fermented sausages with different fat contents were studied: Njeguska, Kulen, Pirotska and tea sausage. Results obtained for CVS-estimated fat content were compared to the results of traditional chemical analysis. Relative errors of fat content estimation in Njeguska, Kulen, Pirotska and tea sausage were 1.47%, 0.46%, 20.84% and 11.19%, respectively. Results of t-test showed a significant (p<0.01) differencebetween mean fat contents obtained by CVS and chemical analysis in the case of Pirotska sausage. On the other hand, there was no significant (p<0.01) difference between mean fat contents obtained by the two methods for the rest of the analysed sausages. The results indicate CVS has potential for application in the analysis of fat content of fermented sausages.Keywords: computer vision, fat content, fat estimation, fermented sausages, dry sausages.