Model of Auctioneer Estimation of Swordtip Squid (Loligo edulis) Quality

• Published in: Kansei Engineering International Journal Vol. 10; no. 2; pp. 99 - 107
• Main Authors: NAKAMURA, Makoto, MATSUMOTO, Keisuke, MORIMOTO, Eiji, EZOE, Satoru, MAEDA, Toshimichi, HIRANO, Takayuki
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Japanese; English
• Published: Japan Society of Kansei Engineering 2011
• ISSN: 1884-0841; 2185-7865
• DOI: 10.5057/kei.10.99

[Abstract]: The knowledge of experienced auctioneers regarding the circulation of marine products is an essential skill and is necessary for evaluating product quality and managing aspects such as freshness. In the present study, the ability of an auctioneer to quickly evaluate the freshness of swordtip squid (Loligo edulis) at fish markets was analyzed. Evaluation characteristics used by an auctioneer were analyzed and developed using a fuzzy logic model. Forty boxes containing 247 swordtip squid with mantles measuring 220mm that had been evaluated and assigned to one of five quality categories by an auctioneer were used for the analysis and the modeling. The relationships between the evaluations of appearance, body color, and muscle freshness were statistically analyzed. It was found that a total of four indexes of the epidermis color strongly reflected evaluations of appearance: dispersion ratio of the head, chroma on the head-end mantle and the difference in the chroma and brightness of the mantle. The fuzzy logic model used these indexes for the antecedent-part of the linguistic rules. The results of both simulation and evaluations demonstrate that the model is robust, with the predicted results corresponding with more than 96% of the quality assignments of the auctioneers.