A single-walled carbon nanotubes-based electrochemical impedance immunosensor for on-site detection of Listeria monocytogenes

Emerging trends in nano-sensors: A new frontier in food safety and quality assurance

The rapid evolution of nanotechnology has catalyzed significant advancements in the design and application of nano-sensors, particularly within the food industry, where ensuring safety and quality is of paramount concern. This review explores the multifaceted role of nano-sensors constructed from diverse nanomaterials in detecting foodborne pathogens and toxins, offering a comprehensive analysis of their operational principles, sensitivity, and specificity. Nano-sensors leverage unique physical and chemical properties at the nanoscale to enhance the detection of microbial contamination, actively contributing to food safety protocols. With applications ranging from real-time monitoring of pathogenic bacteria, such as Escherichia coli and Salmonella, to assessing environmental factors affecting food quality, these innovative devices demonstrate unparalleled advantages over conventional detection methods. Recent research illustrates the integration of nano-sensors with biosensing techniques, enabling multiplex analysis and rapid detection. Furthermore, the review addresses current challenges in the commercialization and regulatory landscape of nano-sensor technology, emphasizing the need for ongoing research to optimize their performance and facilitate widespread adoption in food safety systems. Overall, the incorporation of nano-sensors represents a transformative approach to safeguarding public health by proactively managing food safety risks and enhancing the efficiency of food quality assurance processes.

Polydopamine-modified 3D flower-like ZnMoO4 integrated MXene-based label-free electrochemical immunosensor for the food-borne pathogen Listeria monocytogenes detection in milk and seafood

Listeria monocytogenes is a gram-positive bacterium that causes listeriosis in humans. This contaminates the ready-to-eat food products and compromises their safety. Thus, detecting its presence in food samples with high sensitivity and reliability is necessary. Herein, we propose a label-free electrochemical immunosensor based on a mussel-inspired polydopamine-modified zinc molybdate/MXene (PDA@ZnMoO4/MXene) composite for effective and rapid detection of L. monocytogenes in food products. Spectrophotometry approaches were employed to examine the resulting composites. Voltammetry and impedimetry techniques were used to confirm the step-by-step assembly of the immunosensor and its sensitive detection of L. monocytogenes in various food products, such as milk and smoked seafood. The results demonstrated the practicality of the constructed immunosensor, with an appreciable linearity of 10-107 CFU/ml and a reasonably low detection limit (LOD, 12 CFU/ml). Moreover, the immunosensor exhibited excellent selectivity for microbial cocktails and acceptable repeatability, reproducibility, and storage stability. Thus, we believe that the proposed sensitive, reliable, and label-free immunosensor based on the PDA surface modification technique for detecting L. monocytogenes can be extended to monitor various food-borne pathogens to ensure food safety.

Carbon nanotubes: a novel innovation as food supplements and biosensing for food safety

Recently, nanotechnology has emerged as an extensively growing field. Several important fabricated products including Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are of great importance and hold significance in several industrial sectors, mainly food industry. Recent developments have come up with methodologies for the prevention of health complications like lack of adequate nutrition in our diet. This review delves deeper into the details of the food supplementation techniques and how CNTs function in this regard. This review includes the challenges in using CNTs for food applications and their future prospects in the industry. Food shortage has become a global issue and limiting food resources put an additional burden on the farmers for growing crops. Apart from quantity, quality should also be taken into consideration and new ways should be developed for increasing nutritional value of food items. Food supplementation has several complications due to the biologically active compounds and reaction in the in vivo environment, CNTs can play a crucial role in countering this problem through the supplementation of food by various processes including; nanoencapsulation and nanobiofortification thus stimulating crop growth and seed germination rates. CNTs also hold a key position in biosensing and diagnostic application for either the quality control of the food supplements or the detection of contagions like toxins, chemicals, dyes, pesticides, pathogens, additives, and preservatives. Detection such pathogens can help in attaining global food security goal and better production and provision of food resources. The data used in the current review was collected up to date as of March 31, 2024 and contains the best of our knowledge. Data collection was performed from various reliable and authentic literatures comprising PubMed database, Springer Link, Scopus, Wiley Online, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar. Research related to commercially available CNTs has been added for the readers seeking additional information on the use of CNTs in various economic sectors.

Rapid detection of Salmonella in milk by labeling-free electrochemical immunosensor based on an Fe3O4-ionic liquid-modified electrode

Electrochemical sensors show distinct advantages over other types of sensors in the rapid detection of microorganisms. Here, we attempted to construct a label-free electrochemical immunosensor based on an Fe3O4-ionic liquid (IL)-modified electrode to rapidly detect Salmonella in milk. The excellent ionic conductivity of the IL facilitated sensor construction, and the large surface area of nano-Fe3O4 provided numerous sites for subsequent experiments. An antibody was fixed on the Fe3O4-IL complex with polyglutamic acid modification by a simple infusion method. The microstructure of the Fe3O4-IL composites was investigated by scanning electron microscopy, and the elements and structures of the composites were analyzed by energy dispersive X-ray and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Under optimized experimental conditions, the detection range of the constructed sensor was 3.65 × 102-3.65 × 108 CFU mL-1, and the LOD was 1.12 × 102 CFU mL-1 (S/N = 3). In addition, the prepared electrochemical immunosensor is convenient for detecting foodborne pathogens because of its outstanding stability, good selectivity, and repeatability.

Impedance nanobiosensor based on enzyme-conjugated biosynthesized gold nanoparticles for the detection of Gram-positive bacteria

In this report, gold nanoparticles (GNPS) were synthesized using cell-free extracts of seven different isolates, namely, Pseudomonas aerogenosa CEBP2, Pseudomonas sp. CEBP1, Pseudomonas pseudoalcaligenes CEB1G, Acinetobactor baumani CEBS1, Cuprividus sp. CEB3, Micrococcus luteus CUB12, and Pandoraea sp. CUB2S. The spectroscopic (UV-vis, FTIR, DLS, XRD, EDS) and microscopic (FESEM, TEM) results confirm the reduction of Au3+ to Au0 in the presence of biomolecules having reducing as well as self-stabilizing activity. In this green synthesis approach, the average particle size of biosynthesized GNPS might vary (4-60 nm) depending on the bacterial species, pH of the media, incubation time, and temperature. In this study, GSH-modified BSGNPs (Au-GSH) have shown antimicrobial activity with better stability against Gram-positive bacteria. After conjugation of lysozyme with Au-GSH (lyso@Au-GSH), the zone of inhibition was enhanced from 12 to 23 mm (Au-GSH). The TEM study shows the spherical GNP (16.65 ± 2.84) turns into a flower-shaped GNP (22.22 ± 3.12) after conjugation with lysozyme due to the formation of the protein corona. Furthermore, the nanobioconjugate (lyso@Au-GSH) was immobilized with Nafion on a glassy carbon electrode to fabricate a label-free impedance biosensor that is highly sensitive to monitor changes in the transducer surface due to biomolecular interactions. The uniquely designed biosensor could selectively detect Gram-positive bacteria in the linear range of 3.0 × 101-3 × 1010 cfu mL-1 with RE <5%. The proposed simplest biosensor exhibited good reproducibility (RSD = 3.1%) and excellent correlation (R2 = 0.999) with the standard plate count method, making it suitable for monitoring Gram-positive bacterial contamination in biofluids, food, and environmental samples.

Portable biosensor-based oral pathogenic bacteria detection for community and family applications

Detection of oral pathogens is essential in the management of oral diseases, as their occurrence and progression are closely linked to an imbalance in these microorganisms. Detection techniques such as microbial cultures, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays and polymerase chain reactions are highly dependent on complex testing procedures and specialized laboratory equipment, making prevention and early diagnosis of oral diseases difficult. To comprehensively implement oral disease prevention and early diagnosis in social groups, there is an urgent need for portable testing methods for oral pathogenic bacteria that can be applied in community and home settings. In this review, several common portable biosensors for pathogenic bacteria are first described. Based on the goal of achieving primary prevention and diagnosis of oral diseases, we elaborate and summarize portable biosensors for common oral pathogenic bacteria in terms of how to achieve portability of the technique. This review aims to reflect the current status of portable biosensors for common oral pathogens and to lay the foundation for the further realization of portable detection of oral pathogens.

Rapid detection of foodborne pathogens in diverse foodstuffs by universal electrochemical aptasensor based on UiO-66 and methylene blue composites

Rapid and sensitive detection of foodborne pathogens in complex environments is essential for food protection. A universal electrochemical aptasensor was fabricated for the detection of three common foodborne pathogens, including Escherichia coli (E. coli), Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), and Salmonella typhimurium (S. typhimurium). The aptasensor was developed based on the homogeneous and membrane filtration strategy. Zirconium-based metal-organic framework (UiO-66)/methylene blue (MB)/aptamer composite was designed as a signal amplification and recognition probe. Bacteria were quantitatively detected by the current changes of MB. By simply changing the aptamer, different bacteria could be detected. The detection limits of E. coli, S. aureus and S. typhimurium were 5, 4 and 3 CFU·mL^-1, respectively. In humidity and salt environments, the stability of the aptasensor was satisfactory. The aptasensor exhibited satisfactory detection performance in different real samples. This aptasensor has excellent potential for rapid detection of foodborne pathogens in complex environments.

Towards Electrochemical Sensor Based on Molecularly Imprinted Polypyrrole for the Detection of Bacteria-Listeria monocytogenes

Detecting bacteria-Listeria monocytogenes-is an essential healthcare and food industry issue. The objective of the current study was to apply platinum (Pt) and screen-printed carbon (SPCE) electrodes modified by molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) in the design of an electrochemical sensor for the detection of Listeria monocytogenes. A sequence of potential pulses was used to perform the electrochemical deposition of the non-imprinted polypyrrole (NIP-Ppy) layer and Listeria monocytogenes-imprinted polypyrrole (MIP-Ppy) layer over SPCE and Pt electrodes. The bacteria were removed by incubating Ppy-modified electrodes in different extraction solutions (sulphuric acid, acetic acid, L-lysine, and trypsin) to determine the most efficient solution for extraction and to obtain a more sensitive and repeatable design of the sensor. The performance of MIP-Ppy- and NIP-Ppy-modified electrodes was evaluated by pulsed amperometric detection (PAD). According to the results of this research, it can be assumed that the most effective MIP-Ppy/SPCE sensor can be designed by removing bacteria with the proteolytic enzyme trypsin. The LOD and LOQ of the MIP-Ppy/SPCE were 70 CFU/mL and 210 CFU/mL, respectively, with a linear range from 300 to 6700 CFU/mL.

Large-scale nano-biosensing technologies

Nanoscale technologies have brought significant advancements to modern diagnostics, enabling unprecedented bio-chemical sensitivities that are key to disease monitoring. At the same time, miniaturized biosensors and their integration across large areas enabled tessellating these into high-density biosensing panels, a key capability for the development of high throughput monitoring: multiple patients as well as multiple analytes per patient. This review provides a critical overview of various nanoscale biosensing technologies and their ability to unlock high testing throughput without compromising detection resilience. We report on the challenges and opportunities each technology presents along this direction and present a detailed analysis on the prospects of both commercially available and emerging biosensing technologies.

Rapid-Response Magnetic Enrichment Strategy for Significantly Improving Sensitivity of Multiplex PCR Analysis of Pathogenic Listeria Species

Listeria monocytogenes and Listeria ivanovii are important pathogenic Listeria spp. that cause infections in humans and animals. Establishing a rapid and sensitive method for the simultaneous screening of pathogenic Listeria spp. is of great significance for ensuring food safety. Multiplex polymerase chain reaction (mPCR) has been extensively reported to simultaneously detect several pathogens in food with high sensitivity, but a time-consuming pre-enrichment process is necessary. In this study, we report the usage of surface-modified polyethyleneimine-coated positively charged magnetic nanoparticles (PEI-MNPs) for rapid enrichment of pathogenic Listeria spp. through electrostatic interactions. The enrichment process takes only 10 min with high capture efficiency (more than 70%) at a wide pH range and ionic strength. Combined with mPCR analysis, the PEI-MNPs-mPCR strategy can simultaneously, rapidly, and sensitively detect pathogenic Listeria spp. without a time-consuming pre-concentration process. Under the optimal conditions, the detection limits of L. monocytogenes and L. ivanovii in lettuce were both as low as 101 CFU/mL, which was a hundred times lower than that without magnetic enrichment. In conclusion, the magnetic enrichment strategy based on charge interaction combined with mPCR analysis has great application potential in shortening the pre-concentration time of foodborne pathogens and improving the detection sensitivity.