Detection Of
Food Pathogen
By Biosensors
PRSENTED BY
SADAF MEHREEN
Biosensors
Biosensors has generally two parts;tranducer and bioreceptor
The bioreceptor responsible for recognizing the target analyte can either be a:
(1) Biological material: enzymes, antibodies, nucleic acids and cell receptors, or
(2) Biologically derived material: aptamers and recombinant antibodies, or
(3) Biomimic: imprinted polymers and synthetic catalysts.
The transducer that converts the biological interactions into a measurable
electrical signal can be optical, electrochemical, mass-based, thermometric,
micromechanical or magnetic
The recent biosensors that commonly used for the detection of foodborne
pathogens are optical, electrochemical and mass-based biosensors
Optical biosensors
The most commonly used optical biosensor for the detection of detection of foodborne pathogen
is surface plasmon resonance (SPR) biosensor due to their sensitivity.
SPR employs reflectance spectroscopy for the pathogen detection.
Bioreceptors are immobilized on the surface of a thin metal.
When the pathogen binds to the metal surface, this interaction results in the change of wavelength
required for electron resonance
Commercially used optical biosensor
Commercial optical biosensors using SPR techniques such as SPREETA biosensor
and BIACORE 3000 biosensor are currently available for the detection of
foodborne pathogens.
SPREETA biosensor is used for the detection of E. coli O157:H7 in milk, apple
juice and ground beef.
Salmonella Enteritidis and Salmonella Typhimurium were successfully detected
by SPREETA biosensor
Besides, Listeria monocytogenes was successfully detected by BIACORE 3000
biosensor with detection
Salmonella group B, D, and E, Escherichia coli O157:H7
and Salmonella Enteritidis were also successfully detected by BIACORE biosensor
The commercially available biosensors for the detection of foodborne pathogens
are mostly optical-based biosensors.
The commercial biosensors offer varying degrees of automation. The
commercialization of biosensors is slower than other rapid methods due to several
factors such as cost consideration, quality assurance, stability issues, sensitivity
issues and instrumentation design.
There are difficulties in the methods of producing inexpensive and reliable
sensors, the storage of biosensors, the stabilization of biosensors, methods of
sensor calibration and total integration of the sensor system
Electrochemical biosensors
Electrochemical biosensors are further
classified into several types such as
amperometric, impedimetric, potentiometric,
and conductometric according to the
measurement of changes in current,
impedance, voltage and conductance
respectively, which caused by antigen-
bioreceptor interactions
Many researchers had reported the successful detection of foodborne pathogens
by electrochemical biosensors.
For example, successfully detected Bacillus cereus present in alfalfa sprouts,
strawberries, lettuce, tomatoes, fried rice and cooked corn by a direct-charge
transfer conductometric biosensor.
Amperometric magnetoimmunosensor was used for the detection
of Staphylococcus aureus.
The successful detection of Escherichia coli in vegetable food by using antibody-
based potentiometric biosensor is done.
Mass based biosensors
Mass-based or mass-sensitive biosensors operate based on the detection of small changes in
mass.
Mass-based biosensors involve the use of piezoelectric crystal which will vibrate at a certain
frequency when induced by an electrical signal of a certain frequency.
The bioreceptors (e.g., antibodies) for the detection of pathogens (e.g., antigens) are immobilized
on this crystal.
Once the target antigens bind to the antibodies immobilized on the crystal, this will cause a
measurable change in the vibrational frequency of the crystal which correlates with the added
mass on the crystal surface.
There are two major types of mass-based biosensors which are the bulk acoustic wave resonators
(BAW) or quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) and surface acoustic wave resonators (SAW)
However, the application of mass-based biosensors in the field of foodborne
pathogen detection is generally lesser than electrochemical and optical biosensors.
The use of piezoelectric immunosensor for the detection of Salmonella Enteritidis
with detection limit of 1 × 105 cells/mL and the detection of Escherichia coli with
detection limit of 106–109 CFU/mL
Detection of toxigenic Escherichia coli O157:H7 by using a SAW biosensor was
reported.
The QCM immunosensor was employed for the detection of Listeria
monocytogenes and the detection limit was 1 × 107 cells/mL.
QCM immunosensor for the detection of Escherichia coli O157:H7 and the
detection limit was 102 CFU/mL with detection time of less than 1.5 h.
