The image acquisitions of muffins took place on the same days as the
chemical and sensory analyses. The evaluation of themorphological and
colourimetric features of muffins was performed using an image analysis
system with the following devices: a digital camera (Nikon Coolpix
S4) and a personal computerwith a Pentium 4 processor andWindows
XP Professional. The colour of acquired imageswere not standardised to
achieve absolute colour values, because the aim of this experiment was
not a characterization of the samples but the comparison of the two different
packaging solutions of the same product during storage time
(Table 6). The images were acquired at a fixed distance of 400 mm
from the sample surface, which was sitting inside a black box. The captured
images were analysed using the image analysis software KS-400
V.3.0 (Carl Zeiss, Vision, Oberkochen, Germany). A dedicated Macro,
called Muffin.mcr, was specifically developed by the Image Analysis Laboratory
at the Stazione Sperimentale di Granicoltura per la Sicilia to measure
some of morpho-colourimetric parameters of each sample over
time. Applying the necessary algorithms, this macro was used to measure
area, perimeter, maximum and minimum diameters, shape and