Omics approaches in fish quality and safety

Abstract

Omics is a new technology that uses genomics, proteomics, and metabolomics to investigate metabolites from foods. The global demand for fish has shown a progressive increase because it is a significant source of high quality protein, polyunsaturated fatty acids, especially omega-3, and essential minerals. However, there are barriers in the fishery production chain such as lack of standardization, knowledge, and technology transfer to industry. Moreover, fish effective monitoring is difficult due to restricted quality parameters and analytical methods determined by current Brazilian legislation. This review details the limiting chemical parameters and recent advances in analytical procedures for fish quality determination. To improve fish quality monitoring, total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB-N), trimethylamine (TMA), ammonia, pH, and biogenic amines values should be revised and established by fish category and/or type of fish product. On the other hand, protein carbonyl concentration, free fatty acids (FFAs), peroxide values (POV), and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) should be included in the national legislation. Simultaneously, the official authorities should take into account effective, practical, and low cost analytical methodologies, which lead to faster results in order to facilitate and enhance the quality control of the products from the fish production chain, ensuring the consumer’s health. Moreover, analytical techniques for the identification of fish species must be introduced in the Brazilian legislation in order to avoid illegal substitutions and negative impacts to consumers.