Development and test of a smart multisensory device for preserved eggs

Abstract

Preserved eggs have exceptional sensory quality traits such as pine-needle-like flowers on the surface, reddish-brown and elastic albumen, dark green umami and runny yolk, ammonia smell, and so forth. In this work, a smart multisensory device equipped with a raspberry Pi, a camera, and visual sensor arrays for odor and taste perception was developed to assist in the evaluation of preserved eggs sensory quality. The feasibility of the device to nondestructively detect the maturation stages of preserved eggs during curing was conducted on preserved eggs with five different maturation stages, yielding an accuracy of 95.00%. To further increase the accuracy of identifying preserved egg brands, this study incorporated three types of intelligent sensory data. The three parts of data were combined into a two-dimensional matrix, normalization and principal component analysis were carried out, and the linear discriminant analysis (LDA) model was finally established, achieving 91.67% accuracy for brand recognition. The results demonstrated that the device could be employed to provide rapid and accurate characterization of the sensory qualities of preserved eggs, as well as provide useful reference for smart sensory characterization of other food products. Practical Applications Processors prioritize food safety and quality, which is why producers of preserved eggs frequently face complex and time-consuming workflows, such as the appointment of sensory evaluators to assess the quality of preserved eggs. The sensory panel, on the other hand, is prone to fatigue. This study presents a smart multi-sensory device that can collect and analyze sensory data trends from preserved eggs at a speed and interconnectedness that human sensory panels cannot match. The device has an easy-to-use interface that allows for the real-time collection of critical information about consumer acceptance of preserved eggs. The results showed that the device could be used by preserved egg producers to provide rapid and accurate sensory characterization of preserved eggs, as well as a useful reference for smart sensory characterization of other food products.