Measurement of eye turbidity of formalin-treated Chanos chanos (milkfish) using image analysis

RAJO CHRISTIAN G. CADORNA, MAXINE P. CHAN, JUAN PAULO MIGUEL I. SALMON, and GERALD SALAZAR

Philippine Science High School – Western Visayas Campus, Brgy. Bito-on, Jaro, Iloilo City 5000, Department of Science and Technology, Philippines


Abstract

Freshness is an important factor in fish consumption. However, fish freshness is falsified by using formalin which is cancerous to humans. Fish freshness can be determined using eye color. This study aimed to determine the effect of formalin treatment on Chanos chanos (milkfish) through the mean saturation and value from the HSV (hue, saturation, value) color space of the eye and the pupil, and to compare the significant difference between formalin-treated and untreated fish. Sixty (60) Chanos chanos (milkfish) samples were documented throughout a seven-day period, segmented in GNU Image Manipulation Program 2.10.8, and processed using a program developed in Scilab 6.0.2. In both setups, the mean saturation of the eye and the value of the pupil increased over time while the mean value of the eye and the saturation of the pupil decreased. This change indicates that the eyes become cloudier as a fish loses its freshness. Formalin treatment led to a significant increase in the mean values of the eye and the pupil.

Keywords: color, computer vision, fish freshness, formalin, image analysis