Methyl Red Indicator on Smart Packaging as a Freshness Sensor for Tilapia Fillets

This research aims to analyze the response of methyl red indicator film sensor label color changes on smart packaging in detecting the freshness of tilapia fillets over a shelf life of 10 hours at room temperature (± 25ºC). This research uses a comparative descriptive method. The parameters observed were pH values, total plate count (TPC) and total volatile base nitrogen (TVBN). The results of this research indicate that the response of the film label consists of several concentrations of methyl red namely control (0%); 0.05%; 0.5% and 1%. The best results from film sensor label response is 0.05% Methyl red concentration in detecting the freshness of tilapia fillets and showed the most rapid response to changing the color of the label at the observation of the 7th hours during storage of 10 hours with 8 times the observation time. The freshness of tilapia fillets has decreased quality with changes in pH that tend to fluctuate ie the pH has decreased and then rose again as the color changes are indicated by the film label from yellow to reddish-orange. Total volatile base nitrogen (TVBN) and total plate count (TPC) during the observation showed a trend towards the same graph results, namely, the longer shelf life will increase the decrease in freshness quality of tilapia fillets with marked decay. Therefore, the freshness level of tilapia fillets can be determined by the smart packaging sensor methyl red indicator label at room temperature storage (± 25ºC).