A Synthetic Biosensor for Detecting Putrescine in Beef Samples

Abstract

Biogenic amines (BAs) are toxicological risks present in many food products. Putrescine is the most common foodborne BA and is frequently used as a quality control marker. Currently, there is a lack of regulation concerning safe putrescine limits in food as well as outdated food handling practices leading to unnecessary putrescine intake. Conventional methods used to evaluate BAs in food are generally time-consuming and resourceheavy with few options for on-site analysis. In response to this challenge, we have developed a transcription factor-based biosensor for the quantification of putrescine in beef samples. In this work, we use a naturally occurring putrescine responsive repressor-operator pair (PuuR-puuO) native to Escherichia coli. Moreover, we demonstrate the use of the cell-free putrescine biosensor on a paper-based device that enables rapid low-cost detection of putrescine in beef samples stored at different temperatures. The results presented demonstrate the potential role of using paper-based biosensors for on-site testing, particularly as an index for determining meat product stability and quality.

Colorimetric Paper Sensor for Food Spoilage Based on Biogenic Amine Monitoring

“…Although slightly higher sensitivity was found in liquid format, the results confirmed the suitability of integrating, with high efficiency, the proposed system into smart packaging for the quantitative detection of BAs in food samples. When compared to a recently developed transcription factor-based biosensor for putrescine [35], our sensor showed a significantly lower LOD for putrescine (0.09 mM in liquid format vs. 5.37 mM) and reduced response time (0.5 h vs. 1 h). A LOQ of 0.39 mM was also obtained in paper format.…”

Intramolecular Charge Transfer of Gold Nanoclusters for pH Indicating

“…Putrescine is a type of foodborne biogenic amine commonly found in spoiled meats, which is frequently used as a quality control marker . It is usually formed by the microbial decarboxylation of amino acids, which exhibit increased pH values.…”

“…Putrescine is a type of foodborne biogenic amine commonly found in spoiled meats, which is frequently used as a quality control marker. 30 It is usually formed by the microbial decarboxylation of amino acids, which exhibit increased pH values. Herein, we have prepared a series of concentrations of standard putrescine solutions (0, 10 −9 , 10 −8 , 10 −7 , 10 −6 , 10 −5 , 10 −4 , 10 −3 , 10 −2 , 10 −1 , and 1 M), which are then mixed with AuNCs.…”

Integrating microfluidics and synthetic biology: advancements and diverse applications across organisms

“…This system also demonstrated the possibility of using a portable automation system to diagnose infectious disease outbreaks remotely. Besides the medical applications, microfluidic technologies also offer novel ways to monitor food security, one of those works was done by Selim et al 149 They introduced a paper-based microfluidic system for putrescine (potential biomarker for microbial deterioration) detection in beef samples (Fig. 6D).…”

“…with permission from Royal Society of Chemistry) (Narahari et al148 ). (D) A schematic of cell-free putrescine biosensor stored on a paper-based device to detect spoiled beef (adapted from ref 149. with permission from American Chemical Society) (Selim et al149 ).…”