Browsing by Author "Gopi, K"

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    Combined use of stable isotope analysis and elemental profiling to determine provenance of black tiger prawns (Penaeus monodon)
    (Elsevier, 2019-01-01) Gopi, K; Mazumder, D; Sammut, J; Saintilan, N; Crawford, J; Gadd, PS
    Global demand for seafood is rising, with a commensurate increase in supply from farmed and wild-caught products. Determining seafood provenance is important to reduce food fraud, and food safety and biosecurity risks. DNA and fatty acid profiling cannot independently distinguish between farmed, wild-caught and geographic origins of seafood. This study applied stable isotope analysis (SIA) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF), using Itrax, to test their effectiveness as tools to distinguish the origin and production methods of black tiger prawns (Penaeus monodon) from a range of Asia-Pacific locations. Isotopic and elemental data (31 elements) were analysed using multivariate methods, linear discriminant analysis (LDA), and randomForest. LDA and randomForest had consistent results: XRF effectively distinguished the production method and geographic origin of P. monodon (up to 100% accuracy), while SIA had a lower accuracy (up to 95% accuracy). However, SIA and XRF are effective complementary methods for determining provenance of black tiger prawns. Crown Copyright © 2018 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
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    Determining the provenance and authenticity of seafood: a review of current methodologies
    (Elsevier B. V., 2019-09) Gopi, K; Mazumder, D; Sammut, J; Saintilan, N
    Background: Globally, food provenance has become a concern for government authorities, the seafood industry and consumers due to increasing food safety and authenticity requirements. Wild-catch fisheries and aquaculture are both important industries; aquaculture is seen as an opportunity to strengthen food security for the growing global population. However, unregulated aquaculture can expose consumers to health risks from pathogens, antibiotics and banned chemicals. Consumers and retailers, and the reputation of the global seafood industry, is affected by food fraud through species substitution and the exchange of aquaculture produce with wild-caught product and vice versa. To ensure consumer confidence and to allow authorities to effectively enforce regulations and contain risks, methods to determine the species, production methods and geographic origin of seafood need to be readily available. Scope and approach This review summarises the currently available and emerging methodologies to determine the provenance and authenticity of seafood. The main focus of this review is to give an overview of the methods that could potentially be used by authorities to enforce regulations and to contain risks, and for the seafood industry to self-regulate and protect itself from food fraud. Key findings and conclusions The most common methods used are DNA profiling, fatty acid profiling, different methods of inductively coupled plasma spectrometry and stable isotope analysis. Additionally, methods such as blockchain, radio frequency identification and x-ray fluorescence through Itrax are currently being tested for their effectiveness in determining seafood provenance. However, these methods have drawbacks and it is likely that a combination of methods would be best suited to determine the provenance of seafood considering its complex supply chain. Crown Copyright © 2019 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
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    Developing a MySQL database for the provenance of black tiger prawns (Penaeus monodon)
    (MDPI, 2023-07-11) Gopi, K; Mazumder, D; Crawford, J; Gadd, PS; Tadros, CV; Atanacio, AJ; Saintilan, N; Sammut, J
    As the demand for seafood increases, so does the incidence of seafood fraud. Confirming provenance of seafood is important to combat fraudulent labelling but requires a database that contains the isotopic and elemental “fingerprints” of authentic seafood samples. Local isotopic and elemental databases can be scaled up or combined with other databases to increase the spatial and species coverage to create a larger database. This study showcases the use of isotopic and elemental fingerprints of the black tiger prawn (Penaeus monodon) to develop a database that can be used to securely store the data necessary for determining provenance. The utility of this database was tested through querying and building seven different datasets that were used to develop models to determine the provenance of P. monodon. The models built using the data retrieved from the database demonstrated that the provenance of P. monodon could be determined with >80% accuracy. As the database was developed using MySQL, it can be scaled up to include additional regions, species, or methodologies depending on the needs of the users. Combining the database with methods of determining provenance will provide regulatory bodies and the seafood industry with another provenance tool to combat fraudulent seafood labelling. © 2023 The Authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
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    Distinguishing between farmed and wild-caught black tiger prawns, Penaeus monodon, using stable isotopes
    (MedCrave Group, 2018-01-09) Gopi, K; Mazumder, D; Saintilan, N; Sammut, J
    Determining farmed from wild-caught seafood is important to alleviate public health concerns associated with food safety as well as combatting food fraud. This study applied stable isotope analysis (SIA) to determine provenance of farmed and wild-caught black tiger prawns, P. monodon. Isotopic analysis showed that wild P. monodon were significantly enriched in δ13C (p<0.0001) compared to those that were farmed. The results of this case study suggest SIA can be used effectively to differentiate between farmed and wild-caught black tiger prawns, and potentially to determine the production method for other seafood commodities. ©2018 Gopi, et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and build upon your work non-commercially.
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    Facing the challenges of food fraud in the global food system
    (Academic Press, 2021) Sammut, J; Gopi, K; Saintilan, N; Mazumder, D
    Food fraud is an economically motivated act of deception which can impact consumers and the reputation of actors along a food supply chain. Food fraud includes adulteration, substitution, mislabeling, and other actions that might reduce the quality of food, deceive consumers, and other actors in the food supply chain, while increasing financial gains for the perpetrators. These actions can harm human health, thus raising food safety concerns, as demonstrated by outbreaks of disease caused by the adulteration of food. Food fraud occurs within global and national food systems and with a complex of intersecting food supply chains and networks, food fraud is increasingly challenging to combat. Many governments now have food monitoring programs, food safety strategies, and legal instruments to minimize opportunities for food fraud. This chapter provides an overview of common acts of food fraud and discusses some of their implications. Case studies on the adulteration of infant milk powder and horse meat substitution are used to describe how acts of food fraud can be perpetuated, how technology played a role in identifying the fraud, and how governments and the public responded. The technological advances and emerging analytical methods that are critically important to face the evolving challenges of food fraud are outlined. Specifically this chapter discusses emerging technologies, advantages and limitations of DNA, fatty acid, and elemental profiling, and stable isotope analysis used as analytical tools for detecting food fraud and determining the provenance of food. © 2021 Elsevier Inc.
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    Factors contributing to the iso-elemental fingerprinting of giant tiger prawns (Penaeus monodon)
    (Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, 2019-09-03) Gopi, K; Mazumder, D; Sammut, J; Saintilan, N; Crawford, J; Gadd, PS
    Demand for seafood has steadily increased as demonstrated by the growth in aquaculture production. By contrast, wild fisheries (i.e. wild-caught) production has plateaued. However, wild-caught and farmed seafood products are often sold alongside each other. Allowing for the substitution of higher value seafood products with those of lesser quality and value to occur. There are also reported cases involving human health risks associated with pathogens and banned substances present in fraudulently-marketed imported seafood. Accurate and reliable methods of seafood provenance are necessary to protect human health, improve biosecurity and maintain consumer confidence in seafood. Several methods are currently used for seafood provenance; however, there are drawbacks associated with some of these methods. A pilot study was conducted to scope the utility of isotopic and nuclear techniques to determine seafood provenance. Stable isotope analysis (SIA) and x-ray fluorescence (XRF) through Itrax were used to determine the isotopic and elemental fingerprint of giant tiger prawns (Penaeus monodon), a species that is traded globally. These fingerprints where then used to create a seafood provenance model based on multiple statistical methods. The pilot study showed that these methods could determine the provenance of seafood with over 80% accuracy. To further improve the accuracy of the models, the factors causing the isotopic and elemental variability, in the seafood products, need to be understood. Quantifying these factors will help develop more robust and reliable models. The current seafood provenance model development research examined the role of feed, water and sediment to the overall isotopic and elemental fingerprint of P. monodon. Replicate feed, water, sediment and P. monodon samples (n=9) were collected from nine different ponds in four farms around Queensland and New South Wales, Australia. These samples were then processed and analysed using SIA and XRF through Itrax to determine the isotopic and elemental composition of each individual sample. The results were then analysed using mixing models to quantify the isotopic and elemental flow from different feed and environmental components to the prawns. The analysis found that the feed and water are the major factors controlling the isotopic and elemental composition of P. monodon. Findings of these analyses will contribute to developing a scientifically robust and accurate model that can determine the provenance of seafood. This will allow for regulatory bodies to bolster consumer confidence, protect human health and allow for quarantining of seafood that could threaten local biodiversity and fisheries and aquaculture industries.
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    Isotopic and elemental profiling to trace the geographic origins of farmed and wild-caught Asian seabass (Lates calcarifer)
    (Elsevier, 2019-03-03) Gopi, K; Mazumder, D; Sammut, J; Saintilan, N; Crawford, J; Gadd, PS
    Demand for seafood, farmed or wild-caught, is growing globally. Consequently, seafood provenance is increasingly important to regulatory bodies, market chain actors and consumers. The limitations of current seafood provenance methods can be overcome using complementary or standalone nuclear techniques. This study focuses on determining the production method and geographic origin of Asian seabass (Lates calcarifer) using Stable Isotope Analysis (SIA) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) through Itrax. The data were analysed using three different statistical methods; univariate and multivariate analysis, randomForest and LDA. The SIA model had accuracy of 84% when distinguishing the production methods and geographic origin of the L. calcarifer. The model using elemental analysis from the XRF returned an accuracy of 72%, and a combined SIA and elemental model was 81% accurate in determining provenance. However, the SIA model had two incorrect predictions compared to one incorrect prediction in the elemental model, while the combined model had no incorrectly predicted samples. The results of this study highlight that a combination of both SIA and elemental profiling through Itrax is ideal for seafood provenance. Crown Copyright © 2018 Published by Elsevier B.V.
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    Itrax micro x-ray fluorescence (µXRF) for soft biological tissues
    (Elsevier, 2018-10-06) Gadd, PS; Gopi, K; Sammut, J; Saintilan, N; Crawford, J; Mazumder, D
    Determination of the elemental composition of soft biological tissue is a time-consuming and tedious process when using traditional analytical techniques. In this method, micro X-ray fluorescence (µXRF) via Itrax, a scanning instrument, was used to determine elemental abundance at a resolution of 200?µm. Itrax µXRF was initially designed for elemental profiling of geological cores, and the capability of this technique was extended to soft biological tissue samples. The samples were dried and ground into a fine powder before analysis. The scanner generates elemental values as counts per 1?mm and these values are standardised to obtain the relative elemental abundance of the elements present in the samples. The acquired data can be used for environmental and biological research. • No literature could be found whereby the capability of Itrax µXRF has been extended to soft biological tissue samples. • The major advantages Itrax has over conventional methods is that it is a simultaneous technique which allows data to be acquired for over 30 elements at once with minimal sample preparation. • It is a non-destructive process where the samples can be re-used for additional analyses if necessary; this is especially useful when there is only a limited amount of sample available for other analyses. © 2018 Crown Copyright. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CCBY license 4.0.
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    Stable isotope analysis as a tool for determining seafood provenance
    (Triveni Enterprises, 2018-09) Gopi, K; Mazumder, D; Yusoff, FM; Sammut, J
    Aim: To determine if stable isotope analysis is a viable tool for authenticating the geographical origin of seafood purchased from the market. The carbon and nitrogen isotope values of samples were analysed to determine if they differ according to their source. Methodology: One set of barramundi samples were purchased from three different markets and another set was obtained directly from a farm. Two sets of tiger prawn samples were obtained from the same markets as the barramundi. These samples were then analysed using isotope ratio mass spectrometry to determine their carbon and nitrogen isotopic values. Results: The barramundi samples showed significant differences between sources in both the δ13C (< 0.05) and δ15N (< 0.05) values. Similarly, the tiger prawn samples also showed significant differences between sources in the δ13C (< 0.05) and δ15N (p-value < 0.05) values. Interpretation: This pilot study successfully distinguished between barramundi samples and tiger prawns from different geographical locations. We recommend that further studies be conducted with a higher number of samples, and multiple sites from different geographic regions, and to account for factors influencing the δ13C and δ15N values. This study highlights the potential of isotopic analysis as a tool for policy makers and regulatory bodies to verify seafood provenance and enforce industry compliance for source labelling of seafood products. © The Authors