Anti-fouling array paper-based device for rapid and accurate discrimination of foodborne pathogens in real samples

Foodborne pathogens contamination can cause serious food safety incidents. Early and rapid detection of foodborne pathogens is very important. Paper-based devices have been applied for on-site rapid detection of foodborne pathogens due to their cheapness and portability. However, the paper-based foodborne pathogen detection devices for real samples often receive interference, resulting in inaccurate detection results. In this study, bovine serum albumin (BSA) was modified on the surface of nitrocellulose membrane to construct anti-fouling sensing interface. Through array design, the anti-fouling array paper-based device (APAD) with multiple detection channels was constructed. The naked eye cut-off limits of the APAD were 10² colony forming units (cfu)/mL, 10² cfu/mL, and 10³ cfu/mL for Staphylococcus aureus in orange juice, Escherichia coli O157: H7 in milk and orange juice, and Escherichia coli O157:H7 in soy sauce, respectively. The above results indicate that the APAD has good practical application potential in food safety.