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The pH of fish muscle is an important index for quality assessment, but the traditional methods using a pH meter and probe/electrode are destructive, time-consuming, and laborious, making them unsuitable for on-line meat-quality monitoring. Hence, an approach of using fluorescence fingerprints (FFs) for the non-destructive prediction of pH in frozen fish fillets was trialled. Sixty-three live horse mackerel (Trachurus japonicus) and spotted mackerel (Scomber australasicus) were freshly harvested, sacrificed instantly, then preserved in ice, filleted, vacuum-packed, and frozen. Subsequently, the FFs of all frozen fillets were recorded using a fibreoptic-equipped fluorescence spectrometer, and the corresponding pH values of the samples were measured. After pre-processing, the masked FFs were modelled using partial least squares regression (PLSR) for the prediction of pH values. The results revealed that the developed method was accurate enough for predicting the pH changes in frozen horse mackerel and spotted mackerel fillets with R2 = 0.71 and R2 = 0.90, respectively. The proposed technique could be utilized as a rapid and non-contact alternative to traditional pH electrodes for the quality monitoring of fish products.

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Countless marine organisms were polluted with radioactive materials that were dispersed when the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) was damaged in 2011 by the Great East Japan Earthquake. The aim of this study was to determine the degree to which marine herbivorous sea urchins, Mesocentrotus nudus, were contaminated with radiocesium because of the accident. We collected samples of sea urchins from four locations in Fukushima prefecture (at the coast and offshore from the Yotsukura and Ena stations) and investigated how the 137Cs activity concentrations changed. The biological half-life (Tbio) of 137Cs in the individual sea urchins was between 121 and 157 days. The ecological half-life (Teco) of 137Cs was 181–423 days and was high in places close to the FDNPP. The Teco values in the sea urchins were longer than previously reported. The results infer that the food sources of the sea urchins around the Fukushima coast strongly influenced their uptake of 137Cs.

The present study was carried out to analyze the antibiotic susceptibility of four pathogenic bacteria Escherichia coli, Enterobacter, Pseudomonas and Staphylococcus aureus respectively. Escherichia coli strains from 35 samples, Staphylococcusaureus strains from 35 samples, Enterobacter strains from 39 samples and Pseudomonas strains from 39 samples were isolated from 200 suspected infected individuals. Pure cultures of isolate were done by isolating single colony from the stored bacteria. Identification of strains were confirmed by various microscopic, colonial and biochemical tests. Finally identified four varieties of pathogenic strains Escherichia coli, Enterobacter, Pseudomonas and Staphylococcus aureus were subjected to the antibiotic sensitivity test by antibiotic disc diffusion method. Approximately 15 commonly used antibiotics were used in the tests. For this study it was observed that 94% of Escherichia coli were resistant to Cefixime, 86% to Cefuroxime Sodium, 77% to Ceftriaxone, 71% to Ceftazidime, 66% to Amoxycillin-Clavulanic acid and Ciprofloxacin, 63% to Levofloxacin, 57% to Doxycycline, 49% to Co-trimoxazole andonly 37% to Gentamicin. No Escherichia coli samples were found resistant against Meropenem having highest sensitivity (100%). Only 7 Escherichia coli samples were resistant to Amikacin having sensitivity 80% and 10 Escherichia coli samples were resistant to Nitrofurantion with the third highest sensitivity 71%. Staphylococcus aureus were observed to show maximum resistant (100%) towards Azithromycin, next to Ceftriaxone 74%, Ciprofloxacin and Oxacillin 71%, Co-trimoxazole 63%, Levofloxacin 57% and Amoxycillin-Clavulanic acid 49%. Only 5 Staphylococcus aureus samples were resistant to Gentamicin with a maximum sensitivity 86% and 7 Staphylococcus aureus samples were resistant to Amikacin having second highest sensitivity 80% and third highest sensitivity Cephalexin 63%. Enterobactor showedmaximum resistant towards Amoxycillin-Clavunic acid 100%, Cefixime 100%, Ceftadizime 100%, Ceftriaxone 95%, Amikacin 85%, Co-trimoxazole 79%, Ciprofloxacine 77%, Doxycyclin 72%, Gentamicin51%, Levofloxacin 46%, and Nitrofurantion 41%. There were found to be no Enterobacter Samples that resistant to Meropenem having highest sensitivity (100%). Only 16 Entarobacter samples were resistant to Nitrofurantion having second highest sensitivity59% and third highest sensitivity Levofloxacin 54%. Pseudomonus were observed to maximum resistant towards Amoxicillin 100%, Ceftazidime 100%, Cefixime 100%, Doxycycline 100%, Co-trimoxazole 100%, Ciprofloxacin 83%, Ceftriaxone 83%, Levofloxacin 83%, Nitrofurantion 83%, and Amikacin 67%. There were found to be no Pseudomonus Samples that resistant to Meropenem having highest sensitivity (100%). Only 13 Pseudomonus samples were resistant to Gentamicin with a maximumsensitivity 67%.