Sea and Fish Products

Besides the well-known dangers and health risks deriving from pollutants (heavy metals) or pathogens development (clostridia), for which SSICA has the possibility to monitor the product safety by means of specific analyses, there is now an emergency concerning micro and nanoplastics that alarms consumers, as a result of overt pollution and increasing presence of plastics in the sea.
SSICA has started a work aimed at assessing the presence, the toxicity and the effects on health and at determining plastic micro/nano residues in seafood products.
Furthermore, SSICA laboratories routinely carry out histamine content analyses in canned fish.

The greater consumer awareness on the risks but also on the quality of the product and on the value of the raw material connected also to its origin, have long imposed to give guarantees on origin and on the correct denomination on the label. In this field it is not only legislation that sets the rules, but also the increased sensitivity of consumers. The fish caught has by its nature an origin that is not easily delimitable, as that can be instead for a pig breeding.

Nevertheless, some results have been obtained on the possibility of identifying the origin of some species. Although not conclusive, but still to be concluded, some protocols for the anchovies’ origin determination have been implemented in collaboration with some university and can be continued to obtain full validation in the presence of business interest. The results obtained for the distinction of species between anchovy, round sardinella and sardine fillets, following a work done years ago, are, on the contrary, conclusive.

Recently, the method for determining commercial tuna species has been defined, distinguishing between Thunnus Albacares (Yellowfin Tuna), Thunnus Alalunga (Albacore Tuna), Thunnus Obesus (Bigeye Tuna) and Katsuwonus Pelamis (Skipjack Tuna).

These protocols of analysis exploit the specificity of the DNA extracted and its identification with the PCR-RealTime technique, a consolidated and now very reliable method used for the identification of many animal and plant species and is also effective on processed products.
It has the limit of being extremely sensitive, to the point that a positive result can refer to contamination in traces, commercially not significant.
In this case it is necessary to resort to a quantification, a strategy that for DNA is more laborious and that allows a certain margin of variability.

The possibility of exhibiting an additional quality with commercial value may depend on an extra content that must normally be certified by laboratory analyses. SSICA performs analyses on those analytical parameters that can represent an added value in terms of presence (iodine content), absence (heavy metals) and qualitative composition (fatty acid profile).

In any case, the Institute is willing to develop methods of analysis, but also checks on the actual duration and/or increase in shelf life, following changes in process, packaging or new types of packaging (on the fresh product).

Also of considerable importance is another type of value of the raw material to be recovered, which is defined as production waste. In addition to those which can be identified by companies, SSICA has already identified a sector of interest: the recovery of substances with high nutritional and technological value present in the exoskeletons of crustaceans.

Among the others two of them have been indicated: chitosan which, thanks to studies done in SSICA, has already shown excellent antioxidant properties, and astaxanthin. The development of techniques for their recovery and use in convenient terms is one of the Department’s priorities for the coming years.

Collaboration with companies in the study of those and of other compounds of which the seafood sector is rich is important and will also be included in the presentation of both national and European funded projects in collaboration with other research institutes and universities.

On the sidelines, it should be noted the research activity on the use of algae also in areas other than those of the seafood industry which could also have an impact on this sector. Their properties and composition are increasingly highlighted in scientific studies. SSICA has already used them as seasonings to replace sodium chloride with excellent results although their potential is certainly greater.

Finally, with new problems emerging, as has already happened in other situations (food fraud, allergen emergencies), SSICA proves able to offer analytical assistance also by developing new methods (determination of species, GMOs) in addition to fatty acid and amino acid profiles and protein analysis by mono and bidimensional electrophoresis.

It is known that environmental sustainability is today the most topical issue in public opinion and among consumers. The whole food business sector is involved in this problem, even if at different levels:

• the acquisition of the raw material (fished or aquaculture)
• processing (industrial technological process)
• the presence of waste
• the duration of the finished product before it can no longer be consumed and become waste itself.

SSICA is able to conduct the product life cycle analysis (LCA) taking into consideration all the steps just mentioned, using dedicated software (SimaPro 9).
By same analysis, soil consumption, carbon footprint, ecological footprint, water consumption and other variables can be calculated.

An improvement in the environmental impact is also achieved by using all the raw materials and SSICA is available to identify the possibilities of recovery in individual business situations, analyzing the non-processable raw material, scheduling an extraction and valorisation plan.

The institute has all the skills to develop packaging materials capable of extending the fresh fish commercial life from the counter (chitosan film). Experimental tests have already been conducted on this topic with satisfactory results.