Walsh, Ian, Ruethers, Thimo, Chiin, Sim Lyn, Teo, Gavin, Tay, Shi Jie, Wan, Corrine, Pang, Kuin Tian, Chia, Sean, Lopata, Andreas L., and Qiu, Beiying (2025) Differentiation of Fish Species Based on O-Acetylated N-Glycan Fragments Using LC-IM-MS to Combat Seafood Adulteration. Applied Food Research, 5 (2). 101428.

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Abstract

Food fraud poses a serious safety risk and affects the economy, with seafood being particularly vulnerable due to high species diversity and complex global supply chains. Accurate fish species identification is crucial for sustainable fishery management, food safety and protecting consumers with species-specific fish allergies who are at risk of life-threatening anaphylaxis. While some methods such as DNA-based PCR are well-established, they have limitations for processed foods and are costly, complex and time-consuming. Glycan markers are highly stable and have recently emerged as a tool for food authentication due to their unique species-specific characteristics. This study introduces N-glycan profiling as a novel technique for fish species authentication and addresses the need for reliable methods applicable to processed seafood products. By employing liquid chromatography ion mobility-mass spectrometry analysis, we examined N-glycan profiles of raw and heated fish muscle tissues from three fish species, which represent widely consumed seabass and snapper as well as their potential counterfeit substitute, tilapia from markets and restaurants. N-glycan structures containing different degrees of O-acetylated sialic acids (O-Ac-Sias) were identified as species-specific markers and clustering based on their percentage abundance enabled species classification. This study provides the foundation for the development of a rapid, species-specific authentication tool, which could be employed throughout the seafood supply chain, from harvest to retail, improving traceability and reducing mislabeling in markets and restaurants.

Item ID:	89295
Item Type:	Article (Research - C1)
ISSN:	2772-5022
Copyright Information:	© 2025 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Date Deposited:	22 Oct 2025 01:57
FoR Codes:	32 BIOMEDICAL AND CLINICAL SCIENCES > 3204 Immunology > 320401 Allergy @ 50% 32 BIOMEDICAL AND CLINICAL SCIENCES > 3204 Immunology > 320499 Immunology not elsewhere classified @ 30% 42 HEALTH SCIENCES > 4206 Public health > 420699 Public health not elsewhere classified @ 20%
SEO Codes:	28 EXPANDING KNOWLEDGE > 2801 Expanding knowledge > 280112 Expanding knowledge in the health sciences @ 50% 28 EXPANDING KNOWLEDGE > 2801 Expanding knowledge > 280103 Expanding knowledge in the biomedical and clinical sciences @ 50%
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