A VISUALIZING AND QUANTITATIVE METHOD FOR DETERMINING OF TEMPERATURE DISTRIBUTION IN AN IMITATION FOOD HEATED BY MICROWAVE

Color changes of liquid crystal due to temperature changes were applie d to visualize and to measure the temperature distribution in an imita tion food heated by microwave. The liquid crystal sheets made from slu rry of liquid crystal were used to determine a relationship between th e color of liquid crystal and the temperature, and to visualize the te mperature distribution. The color changed in the order of red, green, and blue as the temperature increased. To clarify the relationship bet ween the color and the temperature, the color levels of red (R), green (G), and blue (B) were measured respectively from a photograph. The t emperature distribution could be evaluated quantitatively from the rat ios of color levels (R/B) and (G/B).