Food animal freshness/degree of maturation evaluating device, and freshness/degree of maturation evaluating method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12411120-B2
Application number	US-202117909459-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 5, 2021
Priority date	Mar 5, 2020
Publication date	Sep 9, 2025
Grant date	Sep 9, 2025

Abstract

A freshness/degree of maturation evaluating device for evaluating freshness and/or degree of maturation of food animal, freshness/degree of maturation evaluating device provided with: temperature parameter calculation unit that calculates temperature parameter regarding storage time and temperature in arbitrary area inside food animal, parameter based on temperature in arbitrary area inside food animal, determined by storage time and unsteady heat conduction equation; rate constant parameter calculation unit that calculates rate constant parameter regarding sequential decomposition reactions of various ATP-associated compounds contained infood animal, parameter being set based on rate constants in food animal determined by using relation based on storage time of food animal and measured values of ATP-associated compound concentrations; ATP-associated compound concentration calculation unit that calculates ATP-associated compound concentrations by sequential decomposition reaction calculation model using temperature parameter and rate constant parameter; and freshness/degree of maturation evaluation unit that computes K value and/or FI value from ATP-associated compound concentrations.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A freshness/degree of maturation evaluating device for evaluating a freshness and/or a degree of maturation of a food animal, the freshness/degree of maturation evaluating device comprising:
a temperature parameter calculation unit that calculates a temperature parameter regarding a storage time and a temperature in an arbitrary area inside the food animal, the parameter being based on the temperature in the arbitrary area inside the food animal, determined by the storage time and an unsteady heat conduction equation;
a rate constant parameter calculation unit that calculates a rate constant parameter regarding sequential decomposition reactions of various adenosine triphosphate (ATP)-associated compounds contained in the food animal, the parameter being set based on rate constants in the food animal determined by using a relation based on the storage time of the food animal and measured values of ATP-associated compound concentrations;
an ATP-associated compound concentration calculation unit that calculates the ATP-associated compound concentrations by a sequential decomposition reaction calculation model using the temperature parameter and the rate constant parameter;
a freshness/degree of maturation evaluation unit that computes a freshness indicator K value and/or an FI value from the ATP-associated compound concentrations, and
a freshness/degree of maturation assessment unit that computes an optimized storage temperature for the food animal based on the K value and/or FI value, and automatically inputs the optimized storage temperature as a first initial settings value for transportation conditions.

2. The freshness/degree of maturation evaluating device according to claim 1 , wherein the food animal is an aquatic animal.

3. The freshness/degree of maturation evaluating device according to claim 2 , wherein the aquatic animal is one of sweetfish, chub mackerel, Japanese jack mackerel, olive flounder, skipjack tuna, Pacific saury, Japanese amberjack, red seabream, young Japanese amberjack, Spanish mackerel, Japanese pilchard, Japanese flying squid, Toyama shrimp, scallop, and sea urchin.

4. The freshness/degree of maturation evaluating device according to claim 1 , wherein the food animal is a livestock animal.

5. The freshness/degree of maturation evaluating device according to claim 4 , wherein the livestock animal is one of a cow, a chicken, a pig, and a boar.

6. The freshness/degree of maturation evaluating device according to claim 1 , wherein at least two and at most ten of the rate constant parameters are used.

7. The freshness/degree of maturation evaluating device according to claim 1 , wherein the freshness/degree of maturation evaluation unit further evaluates the freshness and/or the degree of maturation of the food animal by comparing at least one of the K value, the FI value, or an inosinic acid (IMP) value with a prescribed threshold value.

8. The freshness/degree of maturation evaluating device according to claim 7 , wherein the freshness/degree of maturation assessment unit that assesses the freshness and/or the degree of maturation by comparing an evaluation result by the freshness/degree of maturation evaluation unit with a prescribed threshold value.

9. The freshness/degree of maturation evaluating device according to claim 8 , wherein the freshness/degree of maturation assessment unit has functions for assessing the freshness and/or the degree of maturation of the food animal by comparing at least one of the K value, the FI value, or the IMP value with a prescribed threshold value, and for displaying optimal recommended cooking information regarding an ingredient in accordance with the assessment result.

10. The freshness/degree of maturation evaluating device according to claim 8 , wherein the freshness/degree of maturation assessment unit has a system for sequentially displaying, on a map, arbitrary waypoints on a transportation path, and has a function wherein, when a transit location is designated on the map, a temperature change and freshness information at a relevant location on the map, and a freshness or a storage temperature at a designated time can be visually confirmed.

11. The freshness/degree of maturation evaluating device according to claim 8 , wherein the freshness/degree of maturation assessment unit has functions for computing necessary conditions, including at least one of a storage time, a transportation method, a transportation path, a catch/slaughter date/time, and a transportation commencement date/time, satisfying ordering conditions, and for automatically inputting initial settings values, including the first initial settings value, for transportation conditions satisfying consumer needs.

12. The freshness/degree of maturation evaluating device according to claim 8 , wherein the freshness/degree of maturation assessment unit has functions for displaying cautionary information, in a case in which there has been an outbreak of an infectious disease among distribution-associated people on a distribution path, and if a food animal is determined to be unsafe to eat or if considerable caution is determined to be necessary from the freshness/degree of maturation assessment results and processing information based on fishery-, slaughter-, processing-, market-, and distribution-associated person data, distribution transit location information, and disinfection/sterilization data.

13. The freshness/degree of maturation evaluating device according to claim 1 , wherein the freshness/degree of maturation evaluation unit computes a corrected (mK) value from the ATP-associated compound concentrations, and further evaluates the freshness and/or the degree of maturation of the food animal by comparing the corrected (mK) value or both the corrected (mK) value and an IMP value with a prescribed threshold value.

14. The freshness/degree of maturation evaluating device according to claim 13 , wherein the freshness/degree of maturation assessment unit assesses the freshness and/or the degree of maturation by comparing an evaluation result by the freshness/degree of maturation evaluation unit with a prescribed threshold value.

15. The freshness/degree of maturation evaluating device according to claim 14 , wherein the freshness/degree of maturation assessment unit has functions for assessing the freshness and/or the degree of maturation of the food animal by comparing the mK value or both the mK value and the IMP value with a prescribed threshold value, and for displaying optimal recommended cooking information regarding an ingredient in accordance with the assessment result.

16. A refrigerator/freezer provided with the freshness/degree of maturation evaluating device according to claim 1 .

17. A freshness/degree of maturation evaluating device for evaluating a freshness and/or a degree of maturation of a food animal, the freshness/degree of maturation evaluating device comprising:
a rate constant parameter calculation unit that calculates a rate constant parameter regarding sequential decomposition reactions of various adenosine triphosphate (ATP)-associated compounds contained in the food animal, the parameter being set based on rate constants in the food animal determined by using a relation based on a storage time of the food animal and measured values of ATP-associated compound concentrations;
an ATP-associated compound concentration calculation unit that calculates the ATP-associated compound concentrations by a sequential decomposition reaction calculation model using a storage temperature of the food animal and the rate constant

Assignees

• Univ Hokkaido Nat Univ Corp

Inventors

• Inada Takaaki
• Nagaishi Hiroshi
• Tsubouchi Naoto
• Shinohara Yuji

Classifications

• G06Q10/06395

  Quality analysis or management · CPC title

• A23B4/00 Primary

  Preservation of meat, sausages, fish or fish products · CPC title

• A23B4/06

  Freezing; Subsequent thawing; Cooling · CPC title

• A22C29/005

  Grading or classifying shellfish or bivalves · CPC title

• A22B5/0064

  for classifying or grading carcasses; for measuring back fat · CPC title