Abstract Seafood freshness is a quality key parameter due to the short shelf life of this highly perishable foodstuff in relation to safety, nutritional value, availability, and edibility. A variety of physical, microbiological, and chemical methods are used for assessing and predicting seafood quality. Chemical analyses to assess seafood freshness quality are based on the determination of substances like volatile amines that are structurally similar to ammonia and responsible for the fishy odour fish give off several days after catch. Here we report the results of a method to detect and quantify trimethylamine (TMA) by means of direct sampling analysis (DSA) coupled with a high-resolution mass spectrometer with a time of flight detector (TOF). Three different seafood products, Sea bream (Sparus aurata), Octopus (Octopus vulgaris), and Red mullet (Mullus barbartus) purchased fresh from a wholesale fish market (Savona, Ligurian Sea, Italy) were analyzed. The TMA adduct was correctly identified in all samples. Monitoring of TMA levels in the wholesale products from day 0 to day 20 showed an increase in all samples, confirming deterioration of freshness quality. This innovative, simple, and rapid method may prove useful for routine screening analysis and holds promise as a tool to evaluate seafood freshness quality and protect consumers from potential health risks.

中文翻译：

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通过高分辨率质谱直接样品分析定量渔业产品中的 TMA

摘要 由于这种极易腐烂的食品在安全性、营养价值、可用性和可食用性方面的保质期很短，因此海鲜的新鲜度是一个质量关键参数。多种物理、微生物和化学方法用于评估和预测海产品质量。评估海鲜新鲜度的化学分析是基于挥发性胺等物质的测定，这些物质在结构上与氨相似，是导致鱼在捕获几天后散发出鱼腥味的原因。在这里，我们报告了一种通过直接采样分析 (DSA) 结合具有飞行时间检测器 (TOF) 的高分辨率质谱仪来检测和量化三甲胺 (TMA) 的方法的结果。三种不同的海鲜产品，鲷鱼 (Sparus aurata)、章鱼 (Octopus vulgaris)、分析了从鱼品批发市场（萨沃纳，利古里亚海，意大利）新鲜购买的红鲻鱼 (Mullus barbartus)。TMA 加合物在所有样品中都被正确识别。从第 0 天到第 20 天，对批发产品中 TMA 水平的监测显示所有样品中的 TMA 水平都在增加，证实了新鲜度质量的恶化。这种创新、简单且快速的方法可能被证明可用于常规筛查分析，并有望作为评估海鲜新鲜度质量和保护消费者免受潜在健康风险的工具。