ABSTRACT
Reliable analytical methods are inevitable for the effective monitoring of the various processes employed in the valorization of processing by-products. In fact, different analytical methods are used in the food industry, which includes gravimetry, volumetry, colorimetry, spectrophotometry, chromatography, electrophoresis, and others. ¢ese methods do not allow for easy and continuous monitoring since they are expensive, slow, need well-trained operators, and in some cases, require steps of extraction or sample pretreatment, increasing the time of analysis. ¢e food and drink industries need rapid and affordable methods for determining compounds that have not been monitored previously and to replace existing ones (Wagner and Guilbault 1994). A nondestructive approach is desirable, which correlates information available outside the product with the stage of freshness. Reliable and cost-effective analytical methods are increasingly needed in the food industry for the determination of specific chemical compounds in foods and food products. ¢e need arises from increased regulatory action and heightened consumer concern about food composition and safety (Luong et al. 1997). In this context, several new techniques and instrumentation such as biosensors based on biological components have emerged and are found to be very reliable, rapid, and useful.
