Synthesis of Covalent Organic Frameworks and Their Applications in the Food Industry

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are an emerging class of designable porous materials that demonstrate tremendous potential for advancing food science. This Review systematically analyzes the linkage forms and synthesis strategies of COFs, focusing on their recent transformative applications in the food domain. Owing to their excellent physicochemical properties, COFs enable the highly sensitive detection of critical food hazards such as pesticide residues, environmental pollutants, and nitrites. Concurrently, COFs also exhibit broad application prospects in food preservation and lipase immobilization. However, challenges such as large-scale production, material universality, and contact migration stability currently restrict their widespread applications in the food industry. To overcome these obstacles and fully unleash their potential, future research should prioritize the development of green preparation processes, the establishment of standardized detection methods, and the integration of artificial intelligence for universal material design, thereby driving the practical applications of COFs in the food industry.