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SPX Speck Expert - Surimi Impurity Application Note

Surimi Impurity Counting

Overview
Surimi and kamaboko have been made for centuries by the Japanese and are thought to date as far back as 1100 A.D. The Japanese discovered that mincing fish flesh, then washing and heating it, caused a natural gelling of the pulp. In modern commercial surimi processing, black or grey impurities embedded in surimi are usually caused by fish skin and have a direct impact on the value of the product. Surimi is graded on a number of parameters including purity level, and economic value is assigned accordingly. Impurity counting is performed manually by trained technicians. The method involves sampling an amount of paste, flattening it within a defined area, identifying impurities of specific lengths, and counting them by assigning each length a particular value. Problems with this technique include inconsistent sample preparation and presentation, subjective assessment of impurity and length, differences between operators, and lack of count verification.

SPX Surimi Impurity Counting
The SPX Speck Expert is an integrated impurity counting system based on objective analysis. The sample is flattened by a precision roller to an exact thickness inside a sample bag, weighed, placed into the sample holder, evenly compressed with the lid, and presented to the SPX camera and illumination apparatus (below left). The SPX uses digital image analysis with 36-bit RGB color to capture sample images (below right), identify impurities, calculate impurity length, and assign point values to impurities (blue=3, red=1). Impurity count results are displayed for review and archiving. Counted impurities and counted images can be saved in Excel. Trend graphs created on a daily basis can track impurity counts by grade and monitor process control.

Be confident with SPX impurity counts!

  • removes detection subjectivity
  • standardizes sample preparation
  • eliminates errors in accuracy
  • guarantees repeatability between technicians
  • verifies and documents results with images and data

    loading sample image kb surimi image counted kb surimi image