Food nanosensors facilitate in detecting the harmful pathogenic microorganisms by monitoring the quality of food and help in controlling the spread of foodborne disease.

1. Food nanosensors
Presented By :
Prakash Kumar ( Ph.D. Scholar )
prakashkumar@iitkgp.ac.in
AGFE, IIT Kharagpur, West Bengal
1. Introduction
2. Probable mechanism of NPs against pathogens
3. Application of NPs in the food sector
4. Advanced nanosensors
5.Scope for future research
6. Conclusion
7. Important references
Outline of the Presentation :

2.  Dr. Taniguchi (in 1974) was the man behind the word “Nanotechnology” but
Dr. Richard Phillips Feynman was the person who innovated the new technology.
 Food contamination due to harmful pathogenic microorganisms (like Escherichia coli, Hepatitis A,
Shigella, Staphylococcus aureus, Noroviruses, etc.) causes deadly diseases- ranging from enterocolitis
to cancer (WHO-2020).
 Globally, food borne diseases (FBD) affecting not only the economy but also human health badly.
FBD cases is expected to rise from 100 mn in 2011 to 150-177 mn in 2030 (Wageningen
Economic Research; WHO-2020)
 According to a report from the UN (2019), the world’s population is expected to reach 8.548 bn by
2030, 9.735 bn by 2050 , and10.874 bn by 2100
 Food nanosensors facilitate in detecting the harmful pathogenic microorganisms by monitoring the
quality of food, and help in controlling the spread of foodborne disease.
 Antibacterial activity of metal NPs (e.g., Ag, Au, Fe, Cu, Zn, Mg, Ti, Si, and their respective oxides)
 Biochemical synthesis of metal NPs and NPs embedded polymer attract researchers
 EUC in 2011 regulates the migration of NPs into food products (due to directly / indirectly contact of
NPs) with regulation No. 10/2011. FDA and FSSAI are the regulating authorities in USA and India,
respectively for the application of NPs in food.
1. Introduction:

3. Source: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mtchem.2020.100332
2. Probable mechanism of NPs against pathogens:
a. NPs penetration : It penetrate through the holes and pits that present over the cell membrane and thus
damage the cell.
b. NPs interaction with bacterial cell:
It prolong the lag phase of the growth cycle and increase the generation time of the microorganism.
Metal NPs attach to the bacterial cell membrane and release metal ions which change the permeability
of the cell membrane causing the death of the bacterial cell.
ROS has been the major main
factor leading to cell damage.
(Kumar et al., 2020)

4. 1. Food Additives: Improve food taste, shelf life, nutritional properties or to preserve the original
flavor, appearance, and other properties like biological, physiochemical, sensorial, and rheological
properties of the food.
e.g., SiO2 NPs used as anti-caking agent with codex No. E551, and TiO2 NPs used as whitening, and
coloring agent with codex No. E171, and Ag-NPs used as coloring agent, etc.
2. Food Packaging: What is the need of packaging material?
 Food security !!
 Environmental concern!!
a. Improved packaging system: Gas, temperature, humidity barrier
properties of packaging get improved with an addition of NPs.
b. Active packaging system: To maintain food environment inside food
packages e.g., oxygen scavengers, carbon-dioxide scavengers, C2H2
scavengers, ethanol emitters, moisture absorber, etc.
c. Intelligent packaging: In this packaging system, the embedded NPs
senses any biological or chemical changes inside or outside the food.
3. Application of NPs in the food sector:
3. Nanosensors:
 Food quality monitoring
 Detection of pathogens
Examples:
• Electronic tongue or e-Tongue
• e-Nose
• Nano Bioluminescent Spray
• Ag and Au based nanosensors
• near-Infrared fluorescent (nIR) H2O2 based single walled carbon nanotube.
(Honghong et al.,2020)

5. 4. Advanced nanosensors:
 e-Tongue:
Types depends on the different working principles, such as:
1. Potential based
2. Voltammetry based
3. Impedance spectroscopy based
4. Pattern recognition
5. Detection of basic taste
6. Detection of food safety index
7. Dairy products
8. Detection of adulteration
9. Dairy products
10. Detection of drugs residues
11. Detection of freshness
12. Detection of additives
13. Aquatic products: Detection of freshness
14. Fruits and vegetables and their processed products: freshness and maturity, adulteration
Source : https://doi.org/10.3390/bios8010003
Source: https://doi.org/10.1155/2014/598317

6.  e-Nose:
1. Detect and recognize of basic odors and flavors
2. Detection of freshness and adulteration of the foods
3. Dairy products , Aquatic food products, Fruits and Vegetables based products, etc.
Examples:
a. For detecting cloves essential oil (i.e., eugenol & engenyl acetate oil) ; carbon Nanocomposite Sensors.
(Graboski et al., 2020)
b. aroma features of Honey measured by sensory evaluation, gas chromatography-Mass spectrophotmetry,
and e-Nose (Tian et al., 2018)
c. Detection of adulteration in saffron samples using e-Nose (Heidarbeigi et al., 2015)
Product: (xyz)
Source: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/gutjnl-2019-320273

7.  Paper-Based Plasmonic Sensors – Rapid detection of Biogenic Amine Odorants
• Inkjet paper was used………WHY?
a. High reflectance (>75%)
b. Spectral range (400-1000 nm)
c. Smooth surface, flexible, portable, disposable, cost-effective, eco-friendly, burnable, and stable
d. Monolayer array of NPs over the strip
e. Typically coating silica particles and poly vinyl alcohol (PVC) as an adhesive agent
• NPs used- Ag (56nm), Au (50nm), Ag-Au alloy (66 nm)……WHY?
a. Providing significant optical signals for reflection
b. High particle transfer efficiency
c. Alloy is better because of its porous and hollow structure ( why?.....diffusivity!)
Volatile
compounds
Working :
Synthesis :
(Tseng et al., 2017)
Source: https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.7b00115

8.  Electrochemcial nanosensors for the simultaneous sensing of two- toxic food dyes:
Metanil Yellow: Azo Dye
Fast Green : Triary Imethane Dye
Causes: Neurotoxic and hepatotoxic
Causes: Tumorigenic and mutagenic
 Multiparametric magneto-fluorescent nanosensors – Detection of E.Coli O157:H7
Source: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsomega.0c00354?goto=supporting-info
(Shah et al., 2020)
 Poly acrylic acid-coated Fe-oxide NPs (IONPs) and a monoclonal IgGI
antibody specific for E. coli conjugated over it
 It is highly sensitive for early stage bacterial contamination
 In case of higher concentration , it was necessary to pair this
MR modality with florescent detection, which is highly accurate
in high CFU concentration
Source: https://doi.org/10.1021/acsinfecdis.6b00108
(Banerjee et al., 2016)
ΔT2 : magnetic relation time

9. Anti-pathogenic applications of nanoparticles
Nanoparticles application in food packaging is going to be increased by 25% by 2020 end.
Portable nanosensors
Fast and eco-friendly nanosensors, will be in demand in coming years
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5. Scope for future research
6. Conclusion
 The antibacterial behavior of the metal NP is due to the oxidative stress or ROS generation inside the
bacterial cell.
 Green synthesis approach of metal NPs is eco-friendly, economic and more beneficial as compare to
chemical synthesis approach.
 Incorporation of metal NPs in starch-based films minimizes the problem of biodegradability and food
containment.
 e-Nose, e-Tongue, Paper based plasmonic sensors, Multiparametric magneto-fluorescent nanosensors, help
in reducing food loss and thus enhance food security and environmental sustainability.
 Maintaining the nutritional value of the food.
Nanotechnology helps in maintaining the agricultural

10. C. M. Galanakis, The Food Systems in the Era of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic Crisis, Foods 9 (2020) 523.
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Graboski, A. M., Zakrzevski, C. A., Shimizu, F. M., Paschoalin, R. T., Soares, A. C., Steffens, J., ... & Steffens, C. (2020). Electronic nose
based on carbon nanocomposite sensors for clove essential oil detection. ACS sensors, 5(6), 1814-1821.
Tian, H., Shen, Y., Yu, H., & Chen, C. (2018). Aroma features of honey measured by sensory evaluation, gas chromatography-mass
spectrometry, and electronic nose. International Journal of Food Properties, 21(1), 1755-1768.
Heidarbeigi, K., Mohtasebi, S. S., Foroughirad, A., Ghasemi-Varnamkhasti, M., Rafiee, S., & Rezaei, K. (2015). Detection of
adulteration in saffron samples using electronic nose. International Journal of Food Properties, 18(7), 1391-1401.
Shah, A. (2020). A Novel Electrochemical Nanosensor for the Simultaneous Sensing of Two Toxic Food Dyes. ACS omega, 5(11), 6187-
6193.
Banerjee, T., Sulthana, S., Shelby, T., Heckert, B., Jewell, J., Woody, K., ... & Santra, S. (2016). Multiparametric magneto-fluorescent
nanosensors for the ultrasensitive detection of Escherichia coli O157: H7. ACS infectious diseases, 2(10), 667-673.
Tseng, S. Y., Li, S. Y., Yi, S. Y., Sun, A. Y., Gao, D. Y., & Wan, D. (2017). Food quality monitor: paper-based plasmonic sensors
prepared through reversal nanoimprinting for rapid detection of biogenic amine odorants. ACS Applied Materials &
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Kumar, P., Mahajan, P., Kaur, R., & Gautam, S. (2020). Nanotechnology and its challenges in the food sector: a
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7. Important References:
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