Enhancing Food Safety with Microneedle-Based Biosensors: Real-Time Monitoring of Fish Freshness

Area of Science:

• Electrochemistry
• Biosensor Technology
• Food Science

Background:

• Food, particularly fish, is susceptible to oxidation and microbial spoilage, necessitating robust quality control.
• Electrochemical biosensors offer rapid, affordable, and real-time food analysis but often require extensive sample preparation, limiting point-of-need applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a microneedle array (MNA)-based electrochemical biosensor for direct, sample-preparation-free analysis of food quality and safety.
• To selectively detect hypoxanthine (HX), a key indicator of fish spoilage, using the developed MNA biosensor.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of a gold-coated polymeric MNA functionalized with a chitosan-gold nanoparticle (Ch-AuNP) nanocomposite.
• Immobilization of xanthine oxidase (XO) onto the MNA for selective hypoxanthine detection.
• Electrochemical characterization and performance evaluation of the MNA biosensor using HX standards and fish tissue samples.

Main Results:

• The MNA biosensor demonstrated a wide linear detection range for HX (5–50 μM and 50–200 μM) with high sensitivity (0.024 μA/μM) and a low limit of detection (2.18 ± 0.75 μM).
• A rapid response time of approximately 100 seconds was achieved.
• The biosensor successfully monitored HX levels in fish tissue over 48 hours, showing excellent correlation with a commercial assay kit.

Conclusions:

• The developed MNA-based electrochemical biosensor provides a sensitive, interference-tolerant, and sample-preparation-free platform for real-time food quality assessment.
• This technology holds significant potential for on-site food safety monitoring, particularly for fish products.