The measurement and character of caramel colour

Abstract

The colour of commercial caramels has been studied by measuring the extinction of monochromatic light ( h 0-4 to 0.7 p) by solutions in water over a concentration range of 0.02-2-5 g/100 ml. The Lambert-Beer 'law' is proved to apply within the accuracy of measurement, and a straight line relationship between log E and h is established. Similar observations are made for beverages containing caramel.Based on these measurements, the colour characteristics of the materials are derived in terms of the ComitC Internationale de YEclairage (CLE.) system, providing explanations for the differences and similarities between caramels, the difficulty of visual matching, and the changes in colour which occur on dilution.A proposal is made for the assessment of the colouring power of caramel by measurement of extinction at wavelengths of 0.5 and 0.6 p. Symbolsh =Wavelength in microns. I. = Intensity of incident light. I = Intensity of transmitted light. Esn = Specific extinction at wavelength h. hd = Dominant wavelength. P, = Excitation purity (saturation). Fa = Luminous flux of incident light. F = Luminous flux of transmitted light. E,=Luminous extinction = -log F/F,,.TL =Transmission = I/Io, at wavelength h. EL = Extinction = -log TA.

Food caramels: a review

“…The range of the hue index for caramel color is approximately 3.5-7.5; generally, the higher the value the redder or more yellow the color. Grover (1968) studied the color of commercial caramel by measuring the extinction of monochromatic light (λ 0.4 to 0.7 μ) of solutions in water over a concentration range of 0.02-2.5 g/100 ml. The Lambert-Beer 'law'was proved to be applied within the accuracy of measurement, and a straight line relationship between log E and λ was established.…”