Abstract
Mandatory disclosure of the species identity, production method, and geographical origin are embedded in the regulations and traceability systems, governing international seafood trade. A high-resolution mass spectrometry-based metabolomics approach could simultaneously authenticate the species identity and geographical origin of commercially important shrimps. The highly innovative approach spared the need for multiple testing methods which are in routine use currently. A robust chemometric model, developed using the metabolite fingerprint dataset, could accurately predict the species identity of the shrimp samples. Subsequently, species-specific biomarkers were discovered and a tandem mass spectrometry method for authentication of the species was developed. Two other chemometric models from the metabolomics experiment accurately predicted the geographical origin of king prawns and tiger prawns. The study has shown for the first time that food-metabolomics along with chemometrics can simultaneously check for multiple seafood fraud issues in the global seafood supply-chain.
Highlights
Fisheries and aquaculture products are a major source of livelihood and sustenance for billions of people globally
Seafood is one of the most prominent food categories associated with food fraud, undermining the credibility of the whole seafood supply chain [2,3]
We aim to explore the feasibility of authenticating species identity, geographical origin, and production method of commercially important shrimps and prawns in a single untargeted metabolomics experiment
Summary
Fisheries and aquaculture products are a major source of livelihood and sustenance for billions of people globally. Shrimps and prawns are considered as a valuable seafood product that accounts for about 15% of the total value of internationally traded fishery and aquaculture products amounting to about US$43 billion [5]. Scandals, such as fraudulent labeling of low value species as premium species of shrimps and labeling aquaculture white leg shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) as premium wild caught shrimp have been reported by international environmental nonprofit groups [6]. Disturbing reports of slave labour in Thailand shrimp industry have surfaced in the media, prompting the food industry giant Nestle to initiate stringent measures to prevent human rights abuses in the seafood supply chain in Thailand [7]
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