Future perspectives on aptamer for application in food authentication.

Area of Science:

• Food Science and Technology
• Biotechnology
• Analytical Chemistry

Background:

• Food fraudulence and contamination pose significant risks, especially for consumers with specific dietary needs.
• Existing food authentication methods exhibit limitations in sensitivity, speed, and simplicity.
• Aptamer technology, while advancing in other fields, remains underexplored for food authentication.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the limitations of current food authentication technologies.
• To explore the application of aptamer-based biosensors for food analysis and authentication.
• To identify potential targets for aptamer selection and outline future research directions.

Main Methods:

• Comprehensive literature review on aptamer applications in food analysis.
• Discussion of existing food authentication techniques and their drawbacks.
• Projection of potential aptamer targets and selection strategies (SELEX process).

Main Results:

• Aptamer-based biosensors present a viable alternative for rapid, sensitive, and simple food screening.
• Current aptamer technologies for food authentication have specific limitations that need addressing.
• Development of food biochemical profile databases and machine learning can accelerate biomarker discovery.

Conclusions:

• Aptamer technology holds significant potential for revolutionizing food authentication processes.
• Further research is needed to optimize aptamer selection and application for robust food screening.
• Integrated approaches combining aptamers, databases, and machine learning are crucial for future advancements.