The European fish industry is still reluctant to implement methods other than sensory to monitor freshness and quality of fish products, although general concensus exists about the importance of various quality attributes and the need for methods to monitor quality. The objective of the project FAIR CT98-4076 (MUSTEC) was to evaluate several physico-chemical techniques and to integrate their outputs into a more robust estimate of the freshness quality of fish. The techniques used for this multisensor approach were based on visible light spectroscopy, electrical properties, image analysis, colour, electronic noses and texture. Combining the outputs of the instrumental techniques and calibrating them with sensory scores of Quality Index Method (QIM) for attributes like appearance, smell and texture, gives an Artificial Quality Index (AQI) that can be as accurate and precise as the QIM sensory score. The outcome provides a basis for the construction and industrial exploitation of multi-sensor-devices for defining the quality of fish. © 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

This work was supported by EU grant FAIR CT98-4076

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