Transmission vs. Reflectance: How to Measure the Color of Juice and Beverages

Transmission and Reflectance Color Measurement for Beverages

Transmission vs. Reflectance: Which Color Measurement Method Should You Use for Juice and Beverages?

In the beverage industry, product color is an important expression of quality and strongly affects consumers’ first impressions and purchase decisions. Choosing a suitable measurement method matters for clear juice, cloudy beverages and high-fiber smoothies alike.

Transmission measurement is suitable for transparent or translucent drinks such as apple juice, grape juice and lemonade, and can reveal small color differences. Reflectance measurement is better suited to cloudy or pulpy drinks such as carrot juice, milkshakes and tomato juice; it analyzes light reflected from the sample surface.

Fulcrum Technology distributes 3nh (3nh/Threenh) solutions for both applications, from portable colorimeters to benchtop spectrophotometers. Available capabilities include SCI/SCE modes, full-spectrum LED illumination and small-volume transmission analysis for transparent samples, helping beverage manufacturers build a color management program. Whether you need to establish a standard color for clear sparkling water or thick juice, selecting the right method and instrument supports consistent quality and brand presentation.

Technical comparison: transmission and reflectance
Transmission measurement
• Principle: light passes through the liquid.
• Suitable samples: clear, transparent or translucent liquids.
• Typical strength: high accuracy for clear liquids.
• Operation: impurities need to be controlled carefully.

Reflectance measurement
• Principle: light is diffusely reflected from the sample surface.
• Suitable samples: cloudy or opaque liquids.
• Typical strength: suitable for particle-containing liquids.
• Operation: less sensitive to particles and generally easier to handle.

Recommended reflectance instrument: 3nh TS7X series
3nh TS-series spectrophotometers provide stable performance, accurate color measurement and broad functionality. They are used in plastics and electronics, paints and inks, textiles and dyeing, printing and paper, automotive, medical, cosmetics and food industries, as well as research institutes and laboratories. With CIE-recommended D/8 geometry and multiple color spaces, the series can measure and report different color-difference formulas and color indices, including colors of cloudy juice and milkshakes.

With suitable accessories, TS-series instruments can support consistent color communication for cloudy juice and milkshakes and can serve as inspection equipment in a color formulation system. They are also used in color-difference quality control across product types. The instrument’s color management software can connect to a computer for additional functions.

Instrument for both transmission and reflectance: 3nh TS8500 series
The benchtop 3nh TS8500 spectrophotometer supports both transmission and reflectance measurements. It uses the widely applicable D/8 illumination/viewing geometry and SCI/SCE (specular component included/excluded) technology, with rapid simultaneous SCI+SCE measurement. It is designed to meet juice measurement needs and can also measure other liquid samples.

The TS8560 supports both pulsed xenon and LED illumination. Its reflectance color-value repeatability is ΔE*ab ≤ 0.01, with inter-instrument difference controlled within ΔE*ab 0.1 for stable, reliable data.

Standards: CIE No. 15, GB/T 3978, GB 2893, GB/T 18833, ISO 7724/1, ASTM E1164, DIN 5033 Teil 7 and JIS Z 8722 Condition C.

For help choosing a transmission or reflectance setup for your beverage samples, contact Fulcrum Technology.