Emerging electrochemical biosensing approaches for detection of allergen in food samples: A review

Background: The incidence of food allergy has increased with the continuous improvement of the standard of living. Food allergy has progressed to a major food safety concern. At present, there is few effective diagnostic/ biosensing methods for food allergy. The accurate and rapid detection of allergens is still a technical bottleneck in the field of food safety detection. The emergence of electrochemical biosensors provides interesting tools for food allergen detection. Scope and approach: This article primarily aim to discuss in recent 10 years the progress of electrochemical biosensors based on diverse biomolecules (antibodies, nucleic acid, cell) for food allergen detection. The con-struction techniques (immobilization and signal amplification strategy), the use of nanomaterials for biosensors, the sensing principle, sensor performance is covered in detail. The major limitations of each sensing types are also presented. Key findings and conclusions: The development of novel surface modifications, nanotechnologies, and preparation technologies provides the most valuable possibilities for the design of electrochemical biosensor platforms with enhanced sensitivity and selectivity. The organic combination of these nanomaterials and biosensors also broadens the design ideas of electrochemical biosensor to a great extent. Although, remaining challenges need to be overcome, electrochemical biosensor as a novel interesting detection technique shows great potential along the in of food