Development of a dual-system freshness indicator and mobile application for determining beef freshness using a...

Area of Science:

• Food Science
• Analytical Chemistry
• Biotechnology

Background:

• Food spoilage detection is crucial for public health and reducing waste.
• Current methods for assessing meat freshness can be time-consuming or require laboratory equipment.
• Visual indicators offer a promising, rapid alternative for on-site freshness evaluation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate a dual-system freshness indicator for raw beef (blade steak).
• To integrate the indicator with a mobile application for automated freshness assessment.
• To provide a rapid, visual method for detecting beef spoilage.

Main Methods:

• Development of a dual indicator: a sulfur-compound-responsive indicator (myoglobin-based) and a pH indicator (alizarin-based).
• Evaluation of indicator performance against spoilage markers like total volatile basic nitrogen and aerobic plate counts.
• Utilizing a mobile application to capture and analyze indicator color changes.

Main Results:

• The dual indicator exhibited distinct color changes (brown to red for sulfur, purple to orange for pH) at beef spoilage thresholds.
• The indicator accurately correlated with established spoilage indicators.
• The mobile application successfully detected indicator color shifts, enabling reliable freshness assessment.

Conclusions:

• The developed dual indicator system effectively monitors raw beef spoilage through visual color changes.
• The integrated mobile application provides a rapid and user-friendly tool for freshness assessment.
• This technology holds potential for commercial application in the food industry to indicate meat spoilage.