Assessment and Prediction of Fish Freshness Using Mathematical Modelling: A Review

Abstract

Fish freshness can be considered as the combination of different nutritional and organoleptic attributes that rapidly deteriorate after fish capture, i.e., during processing (cutting, gutting, packaging), storage, transport, distribution, and retail. The rate at which this degradation occurs is affected by several stress variables such as temperature, water activity, or pH, among others. The food industry is aware that fish freshness is a key feature influencing consumers’ willingness to pay for the product. Therefore, tools that allow rapid and reliable assessment and prediction of the attributes related to freshness are gaining relevance. The main objective of this work is to provide a comprehensive review of the mathematical models used to describe and predict the changes in the key quality indicators in fresh fish and shellfish during storage. The work also briefly describes such indicators, discusses the most relevant stress factors affecting the quality of fresh fish, and presents a bibliometric analysis of the results obtained from a systematic literature search on the subject.

Fast Protein and Metabolites (Nucleotides and Nucleosides) Liquid Chromatography Technique and Chemical Sensor for the Assessment of Fish and Meat Freshness

“…This index was first introduced in 1959 in Japan and has been widely used worldwide to evaluate fish freshness [14]. This correlates with fish taste and flavor: very high-grade products have a K-value of less than 10%; high-grade products have K-values lower than 20% or 30%, depending on fish species; fish with a K-value up to 50% are of medium grade; K-values larger than 50-70% are obtained for low-grade samples [15]. Multiple alternative indices based on ATP catabolism (K, K 0 , K I , H, P, G, Fr, Hx, etc.)…”

Microbiological, chemical and physical attributes and mathematical models for total volatile basic nitrogen formation of Asian seabass (Lates calcarifer) fillets stored under refrigerated and temperature-abuse conditions

“…However, texture may be assessed using less intrusive methods. Unlike other food matrices, such as beef, the texture of fresh fish is not often regarded as a good predictor of its freshness (García et al, 2022).…”

“…Asian seabass, like other fresh fish, has a limited shelf life even when chilled or refrigerated. Specifically, temperature and time have a major influence on the quality attributes of refrigerated Asian seabass, especially regarding microbial growth and metabolite formation, with these quality attributes during storage being described using mathematical models (Heising et al, 2014;García et al, 2022). The temperature dependence may be simulated in a variety of ways, including the Arrhenius model, which is commonly used to describe the temperature dependence of microbiological and quality deterioration in the food system (Gudmundsson and Kristbergsson, 2009).…”

A multiple parameters fusion model based on hydrogen sulfide for accurately evaluating the freshness of lamb meat

“…However, most of these models are primary models with a single parameter, which are easily affected by multiple factors, especially the temperature (Martins et al ., 2020). In contrast, the exponential models are more suitable as the primary model for the multi‐level model establishment (García et al ., 2022), and the appropriate secondary model is commonly used to describe the effect of environmental changes (e.g. temperature) on the parameters of the primary models (Huang, 2017).…”