Emerging biosensors to detect aflatoxin M₁ in milk and dairy products

Aflatoxin M₁ (AFM₁) is an important risk factor threatening the safety of milk and dairy products due to its carcinogenic and teratogenic effects on humans. To prevent AFM₁ from causing damage to human health, developing reliable methods to monitor its levels in milk and dairy products is of great importance. Biosensors built with recognition and detection systems have attracted extensive attention for their simplicity, portability, sensitivity, and selectivity. The commonly developed biosensors for detecting AFM₁ are antibody-based sensors (immunosensors) and aptamer-based sensors (aptasensors). This review focused on the advances of immunosensors, aptasensors, and other emerging receptors-based sensors for the detection of AFM₁ in milk and dairy products in the past five years. These biosensors were reviewed with representative examples according to their signal transduction systems, mainly including colorimetry, fluorescence, electrochemistry, and others. The unique advantages and drawbacks of immunosensor and aptasensor, and the future opportunities and challenges were also discussed.