Color plays a significant role in our perception of food quality. When it comes to salmon, consumers associate vibrant colors with freshness, healthiness, and taste. Some markets have specific color specifications according to consumer preferences. Buyers want a consistent color, therefore, farmers target a consistent, high flesh pigment level and color in harvested salmon. Failure to meet quality specifications leads to downgrades and financial penalties.
Genetics, environmental factors and disease outbreaks, starvation periods, oxidative stress, dietary composition and other factors influence the color of salmon fillets. In addition, the growing phase in the sea has tended to be shorter in recent years, with higher smolt weights, or faster growth overall. All these factors may have led to a reduction in pigmentation. “Rather than an overall reduction in pigmentation, there have been regional, seasonal, and sporadic challenges,” said Fabio Cervellione, director of nutrition & health solutions Aqua Global at G.O. Johnsen.
All salmon must be pigmented to satisfy consumer demand. “The current methods to assess the color of salmon fillets involve manual data handling, reducing accuracy and efficiency. Although accurate and objective, laboratory methods are expensive, time-consuming, and not always feasible for real-time, on-site assessment,” Cervellione said. “Assessing the color of salmon fillets is more challenging than it may initially seem due to a range of factors, including subjectivity, individual bias, color blindness, surrounding light conditions, and lack of standardized protocols within the seafood industry.”
SalmoFan™ and SalmoFan™ Lineal were established over twenty-five years ago by dsm-firmenich and their numbers (20 to 34) have become the globally standard colorimetric, the language of color, for salmonids. “Despite the extensive level of adoption globally, SalmoFan™ and SalmoFan™ Lineal have several limitations: it is a subjective method, measurement is time-consuming and not in line with an industry trend to go digital and use large data sets for precision nutrition,” Cervellione said.
dsm-firmenich recently unveiled Digital SalmoFan™, a portable and user-friendly device measuring the color of salmon fillet according to the SalmoFan™ scoring system. The tool connects with smartphones and tablets via Bluetooth. Once the app is downloaded and the device connected, the Digital SalmoFan™ is simply placed on a sample fillet and scanned. A SalmoFan™ score appears on the screen.
“The Digital SalmoFan™ enables accurate and objective color measurement as it is not affected by an individual’s perception of color. It features highly sensitive LED sensors, and it can be used under all working conditions, from the cage side to the processing factory, irrespective of the light conditions available. The Digital SalmoFan™ app is an efficient way to gather, store and share data that are captured in standard spreadsheets for easy export into larger databases,” Cervellione explained.
The tool enables the entire value chain to measure fillet color at scale accurately and objectively. Farmers, feed producers, processors and retailers can now move their pigmentation programs into the digital era, optimizing color management and being able to capture greater value from fillet color.
“Our ambition is to unify the language of color. One language of color: any time, any place. For the last six years, we have been working closely with farmers, processors, integrators, feed companies, and research institutions worldwide, including NOFIMA and its expert sensory panel,” Cervellione said. “Feedback has been very positive both in terms of accuracy and customer experience, data handling, and ease of use.”
“With the digital tool, you can take control of color by gathering objective data and applying interventions if you are deviating from your targets. Cage by cage, site by site, region by region. Digital SalmoFan™ helps you manage color with your value chain partners. It helps in reducing downgrades, minimizing the cost of analytics and handling complaints across the value chain,” Cervellione said.
The tool continues to improve. “We are developing a dashboard, where the user takes a deeper look into pigmentation performances across cages, sites and regions to track changes and trends over time. Data will automatically be pushed from the app into the dashboard. As an example, if you scan a salmon fillet in one site, your colleagues will be able to see the measurement in real-time in the dashboard,” Cervellione said.
"In summary, the Digital SalmoFan™ revolutionizes salmon fillet color assessment, overcoming challenges of subjectivity and time-consuming processes. Its portable design, seamless connectivity with devices, and real-time data sharing enhance accuracy and objectivity throughout the value chain. Embracing this digital solution enables the salmon industry to optimize color management, improve precision nutrition, and capture greater fillet value, marking a significant advancement in unifying the language of color in salmon production," Cervellione concluded.
