Emerging Role of Biosensors and Chemical Indicators to Monitor the Quality and Safety of Meat and Meat Products

Abstract

The meat industry requires prompt and effective control measures to guarantee the quality and safety of its products and to avert the incidence of foodborne illnesses and disease outbreaks. Although standard microbiological methods and conventional analytical techniques are employed to monitor the quality and safety, these procedures are tedious and time-consuming, require skilled technicians, and sophisticated instruments. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop simple, fast, and user-friendly hand-held devices for real-time monitoring of the quality of meat and meat products in the supply chain. Biosensors and chemical indicators, due to their high sensitivity, specificity, reproducibility, and stability, are emerging as promising tools and have the potential for monitoring and controlling the quality (freshness and sensory traits such as tenderness) and safety (metabolites, contaminants, pathogens, drug residues, etc.) of muscle foods. In this review, the application of biosensors in the meat industry and their emerging role in the quantification of key meat quality components are discussed. Furthermore, the role of different biosensors to identify and detect contaminants, adulterants, pathogens, antibiotics, and drug residues in meat and meat products is also summarized.

Development of an Enzymatic Biosensor Using Glutamate Oxidase on Organic–Inorganic-Structured, Electrospun Nanofiber-Modified Electrodes for Monosodium Glutamate Detection

“…Excessive ingestion of MSG can cause health problems such as headaches, stomachaches, and neuronal excitotoxicity [ 11 ]. Thus, detecting MSG content in food is important to identify whether its amount exceeds permissible limits [ 12 ]. Therefore, developing reliable, fast, and specific methods for MSG detection is critical.…”

Fast Protein and Metabolites (Nucleotides and Nucleosides) Liquid Chromatography Technique and Chemical Sensor for the Assessment of Fish and Meat Freshness

“…Starting from the 1980s, the K-value and, in some cases, the index K I have been also applied for pork, beef, rabbit, and poultry [16][17][18][19]. Nevertheless, there are still no universal approaches to freshness evaluation based on ATP breakdown, which are equally applicable for meat and fish testing, and leading researchers in these fields work independently [15,19].…”

“…The development of biosensors for the express testing of fish freshness is particularly active, as low testing time and the possibility of on-site analysis play a crucial role here. Electrochemical and enzymatic biosensors are capable of detecting marker substances such as xanthine, hypoxanthine, histamine, and uric acid; gas biosensors can detect volatile amines [19,[28][29][30][31]. Moreover, multienzyme biosensors were developed for the simultaneous detection of ATP and its post-mortem breakdown products, which can directly measure the freshness indices K and K I [19,[29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36].…”

“…Electrochemical and enzymatic biosensors are capable of detecting marker substances such as xanthine, hypoxanthine, histamine, and uric acid; gas biosensors can detect volatile amines [19,[28][29][30][31]. Moreover, multienzyme biosensors were developed for the simultaneous detection of ATP and its post-mortem breakdown products, which can directly measure the freshness indices K and K I [19,[29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36]. In addition to enzymatic biosensors, more conventional assay kits based on enzymatic reactions with microplate spectrophotometric detection are available on the market, but the price per test is quite high [37].…”

A General Review of Methodologies Used in the Determination of Cholesterol (C27H46O) Levels in Foods

“…With the developing technology, biosensors, especially enzymatic biosensors, are used in hospitals and the food industry. Biosensors can be used for complex parameters such as the detection of foreign substances in foods, freshness, and aroma control [52][53][54]. In addition to this, biosensors can be used in the fight against drugs and preventing the misuse of drugs [55].…”