Animal origin food products, including fish and seafood, meat and poultry, milk and dairy foods, and other related products play significant roles in human nutrition. However, fraud in this food sector frequently occurs, leading to negative economic impacts on consumers and potential risks to public health and the environment. Therefore, the development of analytical techniques that can rapidly detect fraud and verify the authenticity of such products is of paramount importance. Traditionally, a wide variety of targeted approaches, such as chemical, chromatographic, molecular, and protein-based techniques, among others, have been frequently used to identify animal species, production methods, provenance, and processing of food products. Although these conventional methods are accurate and reliable, they are destructive, time-consuming, and can only be employed at the laboratory scale. On the contrary, alternative methods based mainly on spectroscopy have emerged in recent years as invaluable tools to overcome most of the limitations associated with traditional measurements. The number of scientific studies reporting on various authenticity issues investigated by vibrational spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance, and fluorescence spectroscopy has increased substantially over the past few years, indicating the tremendous potential of these techniques in the fight against food fraud. It is the aim of the present manuscript to review the state-of-the-art research advances since 2015 regarding the use of analytical methods applied to detect fraud in food products of animal origin, with particular attention paid to spectroscopic measurements coupled with chemometric analysis. The opportunities and challenges surrounding the use of spectroscopic techniques and possible future directions will also be discussed.

The growth rate, survival rate, development and setting rate of larval sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus were measured under four light intensities (0, 50, 500 and 2,000 lx), and the growth rate and metabolism of the juvenile sea cucumbers were investigated under four light intensity treatments (0, 100, 1,000 and 2,500 lx). The light requirements (i.e. intensity) of the sea cucumber changed as they grew. Better growth performance, development and survival rate were observed in embryos and larvae under 500 lx treatment. However, reduced light intensity (50 lx) increased the settlement rate of the larvae. The highest specific growth rate occurred in juvenile sea cucumbers under 1,000 lx. The sea cucumbers in this group also had the lowest oxygen consumption rate and ammonia excretion rate, but the highest O:N ratio, indicating that the optimal light intensity for the juvenile sea cucumber culture was 1,000 lx. Therefore, appropriate light intensities were suggested to provide larval and juvenile sea cucumbers with better growth and development conditions.