Three-Dimensional Biomimetic Biosensors for Food Safety Applications

Abstract

Three-dimensional biomimetic biosensors for food safety applications are presented. The sensors mimic the porous media of fresh produce and can detect the presence of pathogens in low concentration, monitor their internalization, and also determine potential formation of biofilm. The sensors use capacitive/impedance measurement for detection and have 3-dimensional structures allowing microorganisms to occupy the space between electrodes and the substrate. Interdigitated sensors with suspended electrodes and a parallel-plate sensor are studied using finite element analysis, and their performance is compared to that of a 2-imensional planar sensor. The simulation results show that under similar circumstances, all 3D sensors provide better sensitivities for detection of microorganisms and biofilm formation compared to the 2D sensor. 3D interdigitated and parallel-plate sensors display 16% and 30% higher sensitivity in detection of microorganisms, and 44% and 48% higher sensitivity for detection of biofilm formation, respectively. Furthermore, a biomimetic device with stack of electrodes is presented that can monitor the internalization of pathogens in real time. The device forms layers of multiple sensors resembling the actual fresh produce and can track the penetration of microorganisms inside the device. This novel structure allows us to understand how long it takes for microorganisms to penetrate in a produce and how environmental parameters such as temperature variation or the presence of nutrients or sanitizers affect their behavior, providing invaluable data to improve food safety and optimize the sanitization processes.

Implementation of Multispectral Imaging (MSI) for Microbiological Quality Assessment of Poultry Products

“…The main concept of PAT is the combination of multivariate data derived through real-time (in-, on-, at-line) analytical methods to multivariate data analysis for continuous feedback and information build-up [9]. As analytical techniques of PAT are considered among others spectroscopic methods such as vibrational spectroscopy (FT-IR, NIR, Raman) [10][11][12], hyperspectral and multispectral imaging [13][14][15] and biomimetic sensors (e-nose, e-tongue) [16,17]. Moreover, this innovative approach coupled to microbiological analysis, quality factors and machine learning tools, can permit the understanding of the process, the identification of Critical Control Points (CCPs) and finally the application of a knowledge base to control the process [18][19][20].…”

A comparison of vegetable leaves and replicated biomimetic surfaces on the binding of Escherichia coli and Listeria monocytogenes

“…More recently, biomimetic surfaces with superwettability have been proposed to delay icing and frosting on cold substrates or to de-ice and de-frost easily, with the potential of supplementing or even replacing conventional de-icing or defrosting technologies in the food industry (Zhu et al, 2021). Additionally, biomimetic biosensors mimicking the porous media of fresh produce have been studied to detect the presence of bacteria in low concentration, monitor their internalization, and also evaluate the potential formation of biofilm (Arreguin-Campos et al, 2021;Huffman et al, 2017).…”