Automated image analysis method for oil-release test of lipid-based materials

We present an automated method to determine oil release from lipid-based materials. Oil-release tests can provide information regarding the ability to retain oil within the structuring network of lipid-based materials. This test provides a first insight into the stability of these materials and their possible applications in food, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical products. The method presented features a simple setup comprising a camera that automatically captures images of the evolution of the oil stain released from lipid-based materials placed on a filter paper. Image postprocessing is performed with two custom-made scripts developed for the freeware application ImageJ. The scripts allow direct calculation of the oil-stain area from all images stored in a folder returning as output numerical values in a table. This method was shown to be: • inexpensive, as the employed tools and equipment are available in most laboratories both in academia and industry, • self-running, as the method automatically captures images at predefined time intervals for a certain time span, • practical, as manual-image analysis is unnecessary (200 images can be automatically analyzed in 3 min).