Recently, a ‘Meat Science and Nutrition Engineering Innovation Team’ at the Institute of Agricultural Product Processing, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, developed a ‘small-molecule near-infrared ratio fluorescence and colorimetric dual-signal intelligent indicator tag’ that can detect the freshness of fresh meats. This was published in ‘Food Packaging and Shelf Life’.
Fresh meats are susceptible to quality degradation with respect to microbial spoilage as well as oxidation. Hydrogen sulfide is identified as one of the most important compounds that signify this spoilage. Conventional detection technologies involve cumbersome equipment that requires a large scale, thus failing to fulfill the requirements of rapid on-site detection.
To tackle this challenge, a dual-signal intelligent indicator tag that provides highly sensitive visual detection of hydrogen sulfide was designed through the application of near-infrared and visible fluorescence probes. Using a smartphone image analysis technology, the dual-signal indicator tag can effectively detect the freshness of pork, beef, lamb, and chicken with a precision rate of 97.3% within real-time conditions, especially under room temperature and refrigeration. This technology can monitor in real-time the production of hydrogen sulfide in meats with different storage conditions.
This work was supported by projects such as the National Key Research & Development Program of China.
Source: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fpsl.2025.101656