This study (purchase required) aimed to determine the ability of two portable miniaturised low-cost near-infrared spectroscopy (NIR) devices to discriminate between fresh and thawed mackerel (submitted to one or two frozen-thawed cycles) and between different freezing systems. The effect of different fish seasonal characteristics on the performance of the model was also evaluated.
The authors found that both of the evaluated NIR devices were able to discriminate between fresh and thawed samples with a classification rate of 90.3% and 94.1% and the freezing system to which they were submitted with a classification rate of 91.2% and 89.7%.
They concluded that that low-cost portable NIR spectroscopy can be a valuable tool for detecting mislabeled frozen-thawed products sold as fresh, providing enforcement officials and even consumers with a rapid and affordable method for fraud detection. However, the robustness of the models should be improved including more data from different seasons. They recommended the development of a global model including different species.
Comments