Fluorescence based detection of gaseous food spoilage indicators

Food waste during all stages of the supply chain and at the consumer is an emerging problem. Non-destructive methods to
determine the freshness of packaged food products could play an important role in the reduction of this problem. In this
study, we developed a chemical sensor, i.e. a sensor foil, capable of detecting amines as food spoilage indicators in reaction
vessels and model packaging units by fluorescence spectroscopy. To obtain the foil, a phosphorylated porphyrin was
adsorbed to silica and then extruded in polyethylene. The reactivity of the foil was tested with single amines in reaction
vessels to demonstrate the behavior under ideal conditions. The sensor foil was applied in model packages containing
salmon or cheese to show that fluorescence spectroscopy can be used to detect the emission of spoilage indicators. Lastly,
model experiments with cod filets were carried out to obtain data to test the capability of determining the freshness by
machine learning algorithms