Rapid detections of food pathogens using metal, semiconducting nanoparticles, and their hybrids: a review

Over the years, food-borne illnesses possess a major public health concern around the world, especially those in low-income countries and rural areas. In spite of all safety precautions and control measures to prevent the cause of food-borne bacterial pathogens, there are global demands for rapid detection approaches. Although traditional methods for detecting food-borne bacteria are very accurate, they are very time-consuming, expensive, and also need trained personnel. In recent years, nanotechnology-based approaches with different types of organic, inorganic, and hybrid nanomaterials have been proposed to devise novel detection methods for food pathogens. Among these, metal nanoparticles with surface plasmonic properties, semiconducting nanoparticles with photo-luminescence properties, and their hybrids with different polymeric systems have shown popularity in the design of point-of-care testing (POCT)–based food biosensors, and this is the focus of our current review. This review is majorly divided into two sections; the first one is based on the various approaches as quick detection schemes using different types of nanoparticles and their hybrids. Here, we discuss the properties of different types of plasmonic, semiconducting nanoparticles and how these properties have been used to devise the scheme for rapid detection methods. The second part of the review discusses the use of different receptors on bacterial surfaces enabling quick identification. This includes advantages and disadvantages of different types of receptors such as synthetic antibodies, tailspike proteins, and lectins that have been conjugated onto nanoparticles for binding onto targeted pathogens in the detection process.