成像技术在食品安全与质量控制中的研究进展

食品质量与安全是政府、食品行业以及消费者十分关注的问题。为了保证食品质量与安全,需要对食品中的风险因子进行检测。传统的分析方法如生物化学方法和仪器分析方法(色谱法、色谱-质谱法)存在前处理比较复杂,耗时,对样品具有破坏性及无法获取目标物空间信息等缺点。因此,开发快速,无损,实时和可视化的检测技术十分重要,这也是食品领域研究的热点。近年来,高光谱成像技术融合了成像和光谱两种技术,可以作为一种用于食品质量和安全评估的非破坏性和实时检测的工具。拉曼光谱成像技术可以同时获得待测物的光谱和空间信息,具有快速,无损和低成本等优点,在食品安全评价和质量控制中也得到了成功应用。质谱成像技术不需要标记和染色,即可实现样品组织表面待测物的可视化和高通量分析。它作为一种分子可视化技术,可以获得食品中营养成分及内、外源性有害物质的空间分布信息,在食品领域也表现出良好的应用前景。本文检索了近几年国内外发表的成像技术在食品研究中的相关文献,介绍了高光谱成像技术、拉曼光谱成像技术和质谱成像技术的原理,并综述了它们在食品安全与质量控制中的应用。此外,本文分析和讨论了这几种成像技术的优缺点,并对成像技术在食品领域的发展前景做出了展望。

Research advances in imaging technology for food safety and quality control

Food quality and safety are issues of concern to the government, food industry, and consumers; hence, it is imperative to detect harmful substances in foodstuff. Traditional techniques for this purpose include biochemical methods and instrumental analysis methods such as chromatography and chromatography-mass spectrometry. These methods, however, are time-consuming and unable to obtain the spatial distribution of the analytes. Therefore, the development of rapid, non-destructive, real-time, and visual detection technologies has emerged as a hotspot in the field of food research. In recent years, hyperspectral imaging, which combines imaging and spectral technology, is rapidly gaining ground. This technique allows one to determine the geometrical characteristics and chemical composition of samples. Compared with traditional spectral technologies, hyperspectral imaging has the advantages of wide detection ranges, in addition to being real-time and non-destructive. At present, hyperspectral imaging is widely used in meat quality evaluation, detection of adulteration, and meat classification. In addition, Raman imaging is mainly used for the detection of illegal additives in food and for adulteration detection. This technology is fast, non-destructive, and low cost; furthermore, spectral and spatial information of the targets can be simultaneously obtained. Mass spectrometry imaging allows for the visualization and high-throughput analysis of sample tissues, without the need for complex sample preparation steps such as labeling and staining. Compared with other imaging technologies, mass spectrum information of substances can be obtained by mass spectrometry imaging. As a molecular visualized technology, it helps obtain the spatial distribution of nutrients and harmful substances in food. Mass spectrometry imaging has unique advantages in food research, e. g., it is used for molecular-level detection and accurate positioning of substances, and hence, it has excellent application prospects in this field. In this paper, recent literature data about imaging technologies in the field of food research, including 72 reports published in professional local and overseas magazines, are collated. The principles of hyperspectral imaging, Raman imaging, and mass spectrometry imaging are introduced, along with the detailed applications of these methods in the quality detection, source identification, and microbial pollution of food. In addition, it also includes food physical damage, food adulteration and food chemical residues. Besides, the advantages and disadvantages of these imaging technologies are discussed. Finally, prospects for the development of imaging technologies in food research are presented. Future work related to hyperspectral imaging should focus on the development of high-sensitivity cameras and high-resolution systems. Improving the data processing efficiency and adding prediction models are also key points for the future. Future studies on Raman imaging can focus on the application of different chemometrics algorithms that would improve the evaluation of food quality and safety parameters. Expanding the scope of application of these methods in food research will also be the focus of future research. Regarding mass spectrometry imaging, attempts should be made to improve the ionization methods, detection sensitivity, spatial resolution, and data processing effectiveness. Additionally, the combination of spectral imaging and mass spectrometry imaging gives full play to their advantages, so that spectral and mass spectrometry information of the targets can be obtained. In short, the application of imaging technologies in food research is expected to be more promising.