Biosensors in fish production and quality control

Fishery products are important not only from a nutritional point of view, but also as an item of international trade and foreign exchange earner for a number or countries in the world. Fish and shellfish are highly perishable, and prone to vast variations in quality due to differences in species, environmental habitats, feeding habits, etc. In addition, they can also function as carriers of several microbial and other health hazards. Therefore, maintenance of quality is of utmost importance in production and trade of fishery products. Most of the current quality control techniques are time consuming and cumbersome. There is an excellent scope for the application of biosensors in the seafood industry including the rapidly expanding aquaculture operations for fast assessment of quality. This article discusses the scope of applications biosensors in the seafood industry. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.