How Fishy Is Your Fish? Authentication, Provenance and Traceability in Fish and Seafood by Means of Vibrational Spectroscopy

Abstract

Food authenticity, traceability and provenance are emerging issues of major concern for consumers, industries and regulatory bodies worldwide. In addition, both food safety and security are an intrinsic component of food quality where the above issues are key in modern traceability and management systems. It has been reported that substitution of a high-quality species by less expensive ones might be a frequent practice in seafood products such as fish and shellfish. In this type of products, the source (e.g., origin) and identification of the species are complex. Although different countries have implemented strict regulations and labelling protocols, these issues still are of concern. This article briefly reviews some of the most recent applications of vibrational spectroscopy (near and mid infrared, Raman) combined with chemometrics to target some of these issues in the seafood and fish industries.

The Sample, the Spectra and the Maths—The Critical Pillars in the Development of Robust and Sound Applications of Vibrational Spectroscopy

“…Concomitantly, recent developments in hardware (e.g., image techniques, optical sensors, handheld instrumentation, etc.) are adding new analytical possibilities to the potential users of these technologies, making them very attractive to be implemented in the whole food value chain (e.g., the addition and use of objective tools in blockchain and food traceability) [18][19][20].…”

“…[9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17]. The main reasons for the increasing use of this approach might be due to the main advantages that these methods and techniques possess when compared with other routine analytical techniques or methods, such as the non-destructive nature of these technologies, minimal or no sample preparation, no chemical reagents required, easy and ready to use instrumentation, and availability of inexpensive and portable devices [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20].…”

“…One of the main analytical advantages of rapid analytical methods or high throughput techniques is that they can evaluate/measure the biochemical and/or chemical characteristics of any given organic compound [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20]. This might be possible as chemical bonds present in the sample vibrate at specific frequencies or wavelengths depending of their mass of the constituent atoms, the shape of the molecule, and the stiffness of the bonds [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20]. Therefore, the amount and the frequency of the absorbed light and the total reflected or transmitted light can be used to infer the chemical composition of the sample.…”

“…Therefore, the amount and the frequency of the absorbed light and the total reflected or transmitted light can be used to infer the chemical composition of the sample. The chemical and/or physical information derived from the use of vibrational spectroscopic methods resides in the manifestation of peaks, band positions, intensities, and shapes [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20].…”

Innovation for food integrity assessment and fraud detection using NIRS as a nontargeted method: Towards intelligent product and process control

“…[7][8][9] The nature of NIRS sensors combined with specific data processing techniques fits perfectly with this strategy, enabling to extract the maximum possibilities of the technology, but currently it is still a big challenge appearing on the horizon. 6 Thus, while the targeted methods search for specific parameters, compounds or markers in a food product, 10 the nontargeted ones work analyzing the entire profile of the product and detecting unexpected alterations for the kind of product analyzed. This means that nontargeted methods can detect and identify compounds or characteristics that should not be in the product but with a holistic approach.…”