Abstract
We develop a time-temperature indicator (TTI) that can determine whether thawing of fish and other fishery products has occurred during frozen storage. A polypropylene tube with an internal diameter of 3 mm was prepared and cut to a length of 14 to 20 mm. One end of the tube was thermally sealed and 0.1% acetic acid was injected into the other end; the tube was then frozen at $20^{\circ}C$. Then the open side of the frozen tube was blocked by sinking the tube into a 10% gelatin solution. The tube was attached to a polyvinyl packaging bag along blue litmus paper and the bag was put into a freezer at $-20^{\circ}C$. After freezing, the bag was removed to an ambient temperature of $20^{\circ}C$, and the time dependence of the color change of the litmus paper was observed. The color changed from blue to red, with the length of the red region increasing with time. Our TTI can be used as a part of a visible detection system and the detection program can conduct the elapsed time analysis on the length of the red region of the litmus paper indicating the degree of thawing. Thus, the TTI is a useful tool in the temperature management of frozen fish and fishery products.
