Research Progress on Visual Intelligent Labels for Monitoring the Freshness of Chilled Meat
LIANG Weiwei, BIAN Chun, PAN Nan, XIA Xiufang
1. College of Food Engineering, Harbin University, Harbin 150086, China; 2. College of Food Science, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, China
Abstract：With the increasing consumer demand for chilled meat, the assessment and real-time monitoring of its freshness have become one of the current research hotspots. Since traditional freshness detection methods have several drawbacks such as time-consuming processes, low sensitivity, and complex operation, developing convenient, intuitive, and cost-effective freshness detection technologies is of utmost importance. As a typical representative of intelligent packaging, visual intelligent labels can convert the interaction between indicators contained within them and spoilage metabolites in meat into visual signals, enabling real-time monitoring of chilled meat freshness. This paper outlines the spoilage pathways and characteristic metabolites of chilled meat during storage and distribution and explains the color development mechanism of visual intelligent labels at the molecular level. Besides, it reviews the classification of visual intelligent labels and their application in monitoring chilled meat freshness and discusses the challenges and solutions for the commercial application of visual intelligent labels, aiming to provide theoretical support for the innovative development of chilled meat quality monitoring technologies.
2026, Vol. 40 
