Multi-potential biomarkers for seafood quality assessment: global wide implication for human health monitoring

Seafood products are widely accepted for their high nutritional properties. However, their safety should be comprehensively monitored, because chemical contaminants/xenobiotics may accumulate in seafood at levels that can pose a potential human health hazard. Indeed, seafood is one of the most vulnerable and perishable products, so its quality assessment is a prime concern throughout the production process, from harvesting, post-harvest microbial contaminations, post-mortem changes, processing, storage up to the consumption. Rapid monitoring of seafood quality and safety through very early biomarkers can bring considerable benefits to seafood industry and consumer satisfaction. A variety of analytical tech- nologies for identifying a set of biomarkers to map (and improve) seafood production, quality, and safety, are discussed spanning from high-throughput proteomics to frontline biosensing strategies, both devoted to identify biomarkers for seafood management and assess the impact of water borne con- taminants and pathogens on fish/shellfish welfare.