Real-Time Monitoring and Rapid Determination of Pork Freshness Using a Colorimetric Sensor Array Based on Porphyrin...

Area of Science:

• Analytical Chemistry
• Food Science
• Materials Science

Background:

• Pork spoilage detection is crucial for food safety and quality control.
• Existing methods for assessing pork freshness can be time-consuming or lack sensitivity.
• Development of rapid, accurate, and stable sensors is needed for real-time monitoring.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a stable colorimetric sensor array (CSA) for monitoring pork freshness.
• To investigate the interaction between pH indicators and porphyrin solutions for enhanced sensor performance.
• To establish a reliable method for rapid pork freshness discrimination using the developed CSA.

Main Methods:

• Combined four pH indicators (bromophenol blue, bromocresol green, bromocresol violet, chlorophenol red) with porphyrin solutions (TPPNi, TPPMnCl, TPPCu).
• Utilized principal component analysis to optimize porphyrin concentration and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy to verify coordination.
• Developed a partial least squares regression model using grayscale data from the CSA to predict pork freshness.

Main Results:

• The CSA demonstrated significant stability improvement (21.94%–28.84%) after incorporating porphyrins.
• The sensor array maintained high color retention (98.84%–99.02%) over 15 days of storage.
• The developed model achieved 98.89% average accuracy in predicting pork freshness grades across different batches.

Conclusions:

• The porphyrin-modified CSA offers enhanced stability and sensitivity for detecting volatile compounds associated with pork spoilage.
• The CSA provides a reliable and accurate method for rapid assessment of pork freshness.
• This technology holds potential for practical application in the food industry for quality control and safety assurance.