Near infrared and fluorescence spectroscopic methods and electronic nose technology for monitoring foods

There is a clear need for application of proper methods for measuring food quality and safety in the globalized food-webs. Numerous instrumental methods have been established in the course of the 20th century and are developing further, together with data analysis techniques, for such purposes. Among them, near-infrared and fluorescence spectroscopic methods and chemical sensor arrays called electronic noses show particular promise for rapid, non-destructive, non-invasive and cost-effective ways for assessing changes and enhancing control during processing and storage of foods. Their key advantages as analytical tools are 1) their relatively high speed of analysis, 2) the lack of a need to carry out complex sample preparation or processing, 3) their relatively low cost, and 4) their suitability for on-line monitoring or quality control. The present survey attempts to demonstrate examples from the above areas, limiting itself mainly to monitoring some quality indices which contribute to the functionality or acceptability of foods as affected by alternative processing technologies, or loss of freshness/microbial safety, or developing spoilage during storage and marketing. These instrumental methods are correlative techniques: they must be calibrated first against (traditional) reference properties, and the instrumental data are evaluated with the help of chemometric methods. Near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy can be used in either the reflectance or the transmittance mode. NIR spectra transformed to mathematical derivatives allows subtle spectrum changes to be resolved. Selected examples from the extensive NIRS literature relate to assessment of the quality of frozen fish, predicting cooking loss of chicken patties, detecting complex physico-chemical changes of minced meat as a function of the intensity of high hydrostatic pressure treatment, comparing changes of NIR spectrometric “fingerprints” caused by gamma radiation or high pressure pasteurization of liquid egg white. Changes of NIR spectra reflect several parameters which suit the evaluation of loss of freshness, and onset of spoilage of various foods. NIR spectroscopy shows an application potential for rapid detection of bacterial or mould contamination. It may serve as a tool for detecting initial stages of mobilization processes during germination of cereal grains, or even for GMO screening. Spectrofluorometic measurements have shown potential, e.g. to monitor lipid oxidation and development of meat rancidity, to differentiate between raw and processed milks, and to monitor fish and egg freshness. Electronic noses containing chemical sensor arrays offer a rapid method for evaluation of head-space volatiles of food samples, important for characterizing quality and safety. Such gas sensors may be able to classify storage time, and determine spoilage, either earlier or at the same time as the human senses, or “sniffing out” bacterial pathogens or (toxigenic) fungal growth on certain foods. Electronic nose sensing is also a promising method for detecting quality changes of fruit- and vegetable products non-destructively. In relation to some examples to be presented in the paper, certain software developments as qualitative classification tools made by Hungarian scientists will be pointed out.