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Abstract
<p class="first" id="d4075388e101">The annual amount of food waste or loss is about
one-third of the total edible food
globally produced for human consumption. Continuous and real-time monitoring by spoilage
detectors can significantly reduce food waste. A novel paper-based pH-sensitive meat
spoilage detector was developed. A mixture of soybean hulls (SBHs) (hydrothermally-treated
in an acidic environment), bentonite, and bromocresol purple (BCP) was coated on paper
to produce the detector. The resultant meat spoilage detector was evaluated as a real-time
freshness and spoilage indicator of catfish fillets (Ictalurus punctatus). Freshness
and spoilage of fish meat with varying weights and headspace were determined by tailoring
the detector's pH. Elemental, structural, and functional analysis verified the formation
of a packed SBH-bentonite matrix with enhanced gas adsorption capacity and effective
BCP-immobilization. Binder nanofibrillation increased the overall visual color vibrancy
and decreased the binder demand in the coating formulation. Headspace volume in the
studied range (40 and 160 cm3) did not affect the activation time of the detectors.
However, increasing fish weight decreased the detectors' optimum activation time and
pH. The findings of this study show that the developed detectors can be tailored for
a wide range of sample and packaging sizes by simply adjusting the pH of the detector.
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