Nanosensors applications in agriculture and food industry

Abstract

Food safety is very important issue in food industry and agriculture because it is directly related to the influence of food on the human health. Recent food safety incidents (such as the melamine affair in 2007 and 2008) and public health concerns about synthetic food additives and chemical residues in food have driven the need to develop rapid, sensitive, and reliable methods to detect those food hazards. An alternative is given in the rapid development of nanosensors which have advantage to detect food components in an easy and quick manner. Linking nanosensors with modern Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) enables novel and online ways for different components detection accompanied with high accuracy. Various types of nanosensors are being developed to meet the different requirements in food inspection (nanosensors for detection of external and internal conditions in food packaging, carbon nanotubes based electrochemical sensors for detection of cations, anions and organic compounds in food, various aptamers for detection of pesticides, antibiotics, heavy metals, microbial cells and toxins). The work reviews development and application of the most present nanosensors in agriculture and food industry.