Color chart of European Pear ‘Le Lectier’ based on the color image analysis

European Pear `Le Lectier´ is one of the brand local specialties of Niigata Prefecture in Japan. Quality management during post-ripening is very important for producing it with high quality. Color evaluation of fruit has been considered as a useful and effective method for the quality management. In this work, fruit color chart, which had the standard shape and the image charts based on the analyzed color scale, was developed for improvement of the quality management in the post-ripening and shipping process. Color and shape analyses of fruit were conducted by using color image processing. As a result, the standard curve of fruit color change and the standard shape were calculated. Prototype color charts produced based on the result were used for examination of comparison to the traditional color chart and of the basis of color scale. Finally, a practical fruit color chart was made from the result of the examination. It is possible to use this color chart to evaluate color of from an immature to a mature fruit.