Sensor Based on Molecularly Imprinted Polymer Membranes and Smartphone for Detection of Fusarium Contamination in Cereals.
The combination of the generic mobile technology and inherent stability, versatility and cost-effectiveness of the synthetic receptors allows producing optical sensors for potentially any analyte of interest, and, therefore, to qualify as a platform technology for a fast routine analysis of a large number of contaminated samples. To support this statement, we present here a novel miniature sensor based on a combination of molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) membranes and a smartphone, which could be used for the point-of-care detection of an important food contaminant, oestrogen-like toxin zearalenone associated with Fusarium contamination of cereals. The detection is based on registration of natural fluorescence of zearalenone using a digital smartphone camera after it binds to the sensor recognition element. The recorded image is further processed using a mobile application. It shows here a first example of the zearalenone-specific MIP membranes synthesised in situ using "dummy template"-based approach with cyclododecyl 2, 4-dihydroxybenzoate as the template and 1-allylpiperazine as a functional monomer. The novel smartphone sensor system based on optimized MIP membranes provides zearalenone detection in cereal samples within the range of 1-10 µg mL-1 demonstrating a detection limit of 1 µg mL-1 in a direct sensing mode. In order to reach the level of sensitivity required for practical application, a competitive sensing mode is also developed. It is based on application of a highly-fluorescent structural analogue of zearalenone (2-[(pyrene-l-carbonyl) amino]ethyl 2,4-dihydroxybenzoate) which is capable to compete with the target mycotoxin for the binding to zearalenone-selective sites in the membrane's structure. The competitive mode increases 100 times the sensor's sensitivity and allows detecting zearalenone at 10 ng mL-1. The linear dynamic range in this case comprised 10-100 ng mL-1. The sensor system is tested and found effective for zearalenone detection in maize, wheat and rye flour samples both spiked and naturally contaminated. The developed MIP membrane-based smartphone sensor system is an example of a novel, inexpensive tool for food quality analysis, which is portable and can be used for the "field" measurements and easily translated into the practice.
['Sergeyeva|Tetyana|T|0000-0003-3486-2701', 'Yarynka|Daria|D|', 'Dubey|Larysa|L|0000-0001-9010-8696', 'Dubey|Igor|I|0000-0003-4023-4293', 'Piletska|Elena|E|', 'Linnik|Rostyslav|R|0000-0002-6401-8184', 'Antonyuk|Maksym|M|', 'Ternovska|Tamara|T|', 'Brovko|Oleksandr|O|', 'Piletsky|Sergey|S|', "El'skaya|Anna|A|"]
D002523:Edible Grain D005506:Food Contamination D005670:Fusarium D054802:Molecular Imprinting D000082582:Molecularly Imprinted Polymers D011108:Polymers D000068997:Smartphone
molecularly imprinted polymer membranes zearalenone fluorescence mycotoxins biosensors smartphone-based sensors