Colorimetric and fluorescent probe assisted by smartphone app for monitoring fish freshness

Xiaofei Sun; Xin Jiang; Xinyi Zhao; Zengdong Wang; Jie Yuan; Yang Li; Xuepeng Li; Jianrong Li; Lijun Tang; Keli Zhong

doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2025.143013

Colorimetric and fluorescent probe assisted by smartphone app for monitoring fish freshness

Food Chem. 2025 Jan 23:473:143013. doi: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2025.143013. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Xiaofei Sun¹, Xin Jiang², Xinyi Zhao², Zengdong Wang³, Jie Yuan², Yang Li², Xuepeng Li², Jianrong Li⁴, Lijun Tang⁵, Keli Zhong⁶

Affiliations

¹ College of Food Science and Engineering, College of Chemistry and Materials Engineering, Institute of Ocean, National & Local Joint Engineering Research Center of Storage, Processing and Safety Control Technology for Fresh Agricultural and Aquatic Products, Bohai University, Jinzhou 121013, PR China; State Key Laboratory of Molecular Reaction Dynamics, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Science, Dalian 116023, PR China.
² College of Food Science and Engineering, College of Chemistry and Materials Engineering, Institute of Ocean, National & Local Joint Engineering Research Center of Storage, Processing and Safety Control Technology for Fresh Agricultural and Aquatic Products, Bohai University, Jinzhou 121013, PR China.
³ Shandong Anyuan Marine Breeding Co., Ltd., Yantai 265617, PR China.
⁴ College of Food Science and Engineering, College of Chemistry and Materials Engineering, Institute of Ocean, National & Local Joint Engineering Research Center of Storage, Processing and Safety Control Technology for Fresh Agricultural and Aquatic Products, Bohai University, Jinzhou 121013, PR China. Electronic address: lijr6491@163.com.
⁵ College of Food Science and Engineering, College of Chemistry and Materials Engineering, Institute of Ocean, National & Local Joint Engineering Research Center of Storage, Processing and Safety Control Technology for Fresh Agricultural and Aquatic Products, Bohai University, Jinzhou 121013, PR China. Electronic address: ljtang@bhu.edu.cn.
⁶ College of Food Science and Engineering, College of Chemistry and Materials Engineering, Institute of Ocean, National & Local Joint Engineering Research Center of Storage, Processing and Safety Control Technology for Fresh Agricultural and Aquatic Products, Bohai University, Jinzhou 121013, PR China. Electronic address: zhongkeli2000@bhu.edu.cn.

PMID: 39864177
DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2025.143013

Abstract

In this study, a novel "OFF-ON" fluorescent probe MPZ ((E)-5-((10-ethyl-2-methoxy-10H-phenothiazin-3-yl)methylene)thiazolidine-2,4-dione) based on phenothiazine is synthesized, which can rapidly (7 s) detect biogenic amines (BAs) through deprotonation, utilizing both colorimetric and fluorescent dual channels. An app for visual portable detection of fish freshness, named "Visual Evaluation", is independently developed. This app integrates several functions, including image capture, editable scanning of red, green, and blue (RGB) values, data analysis fitting, data storage, and verification. More importantly, the smart detection platform composed of the app and MPZ-loaded filter paper tags (MPZ/FPS) can quantitatively detect the total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB-N) value in salmon and has been validated for its accuracy and reliability using the national standard method of China. This smart detection platform is expected to provide new ideas for the field of portable visual inspection, and also offer merchants, and regulators a new instrument-free and intelligent reading tool for assessing the freshness of salmon.

Keywords: Biogenic amines; Fish freshness; Fluorescent probe; Smartphone app.