Detection of Biomarkers Relating to Quality and Differentiation of Some Commercially Significant Whole Fish Using Spatially Off-Set Raman Spectroscopy

Aquaculture represents a major part of the world’s food supply. This area of food production is developing rapidly, and as such the tools and analytical techniques used to monitor and assess the quality of fish need to also develop and improve. The use of spatially off-set Raman spectroscopy (SORS) is particularly well-suited for these applications, given the ability of this technique to take subsurface measurements as well as being rapid, non-destructive and label-free compared to classical chemical analysis techniques. To explore this technique for analysing fish, SORS measurements were taken on commercially significant whole fish through the skin in different locations. The resulting spectra were of high quality with subsurface components such as lipids, carotenoids, proteins and guanine from iridophore cells clearly visible in the spectra. These spectral features were characterised and major bands identified. Chemometric analysis additionally showed that clear differences are present in spectra not only from different sections of a fish but also between different species. These results highlight the potential application for SORS analysis for rapid quality assessment and species identification in the aquaculture industry by taking through-skin measurements.