Research progress on immunoassays for detecting organic heterocyclic herbicides in food

Residues of organic heterocyclic herbicides in food matrices threaten food safety and human health, driving the need for sensitive, on-site, portable, and cost-effective detection. Immunoassays offer portability, rapidity, and low cost, but face challenges such as poor signal-molecule stability and batch-to-batch variability. This article briefly reviews common herbicides, highlights principles of several immunoassay techniques and performance-enhancing strategies, and discusses challenges and prospects of emerging nanomaterial-based immunoassays for food contaminants. With advances in novel nanomaterials, high-throughput screening, and portable detection systems, immunoassays can overcome limitations in sensitivity, portability, reliability, and affordability. These developments are expected to extend immunoassay applications beyond food safety monitoring to environmental regulation and bio-diagnostics, enabling broader on-site and field-deployable solutions.