Application of Biosensors for Food Analysis

Frequent occurrence of food contamination, growing concern about public safety, and the adoption of more stringent legislations have promoted research efforts in the agrifood industry as well as in environmental monitoring, attempting to guarantee improvements in food quality and safety. In addition, the increasing demand for a sustainable agriculture has led to introduce novel processing of raw materials to achieve stable foods. For this reason, there is an imperative claim in developing efficient and reliable diagnostic tools to detect potential hazards for agriculture and food safety. In this context, biosensor technology represents a cutting-edge frontier in the agrifood and environmental fields. Indeed, smart monitoring of chemical contaminants (i.e. pesticides, heavy metals, toxins, allergenic compounds, and food additives) represents one of the evolving issues challenging the assessment of food quality and safety. Progresses in multi-analyte screening, functional materials, microfluidics and nanotechnology are amplifying the potential market of biosensors, making this technology more competitive in comparison with conventional lab-based procedures in terms of response speed, operational and in field usage. However, despite the large number of publications and patents on biosensors for food analysis, only few systems were able to reach the market. Among the main drawbacks that should be faced are the limited lifetime of biological components, mass production, as well as portability. In this chapter, current and future trends in analytical diagnostic tools are discussed, with the aim to promote a deeper cooperation between research and industries, and boost biosensing technology to become more attractive for commercial sector.