Prediction of various freshness indicators in fish fillets by one multispectral imaging system

In current study, a simple multispectral imaging (430–1010 nm) system along with linear and non-linear regressions were used to assess the various fish spoilage indicators during 12 days storage at 4 ± 2 °C. The indicators included Total-Volatile Basic Nitrogen (TVB-N) and Psychrotrophic Plate Count (PPC) and sensory score in fish fillets. immediately, after hyperspectral imaging, the reference values (TVB-N, PPC and sensory score) of samples were obtained by traditional method. To simplify the calibration models, nine optimal wavelengths were selected by genetic algorithm. The prediction performance of various chemometric models including partial least-squares regression (PLSR), multiple-linear regression (MLR), least-squares support vector machine (LS-SVM) and back-propagation artificial neural network (BP-ANN) were compared. All models showed acceptable performance for simultaneous predicting of PPC, TVB-N and sensory score (R(2)(P) ≥ 0.853 and RPD ≥ 2.603). Non-linear models were considered better quantitative model to predict all of three freshness indicators in fish fillets. Among the three spoilage indices, the best predictive power was obtained for PPC value and the weakest one was acquired for TVB-N content prediction. The best model for prediction TVB-N (R(2)(p) = 0.862; RMSEP = 3.542 and RPD = 2.678) and sensory score (R(2)(p) = 0.912; RMSEP = 1.802 and RPD = 3.33) belonged to GA-LS-SVM and for prediction of PPC value was BP-ANN (R(2)(p) = 0.921; RMSEP = 0.504 and RPD = 3.64). Therefore, developing multispectral imaging system based on LS-SVM model seems to be suitable for simultaneous prediction of all three indicators (R(2)(P) > 0.862 and RPD > 2.678). Further studies needed to improve the accuracy and applicability of HSI system for predicting freshness of rainbow-trout fish.