How safe is our food we eat? An electrochemical lab-on-kitchen approach towards combinatorial testing for pesticides and GMOs; A case study with edamame

• Published in: Ecotoxicology and environmental safety Vol. 252; p. 114635
• Main Authors: Poudyal, Durgasha C., Dhamu, Vikram Narayanan, Samson, Manish, Malik, Shahryar, Kadambathil, Crisvin Sajee, Muthukumar, Sriram, Prasad, Shalini
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier Inc 01-03-2023; Elsevier
• Subjects: Biosensing Techniques - methods; Chlorpyrifos; Chlorpyrifos - metabolism; Cry1Ab; Edamame soy; Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS); Electrochemical sensors; Electrochemical Techniques; Food matrix; Humans; Label-free detection; Metal Nanoparticles - chemistry; Pesticide; Pesticides - analysis; Plants, Genetically Modified - metabolism; Chlorpyrifos; Pesticide; Food matrix; Edamame soy; Electrochemical sensors; Cry1Ab; Label-free detection; Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS)
• ISSN: 0147-6513; 1090-2414
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2023.114635

In our daily life, as consumers we are constantly made aware of the impact of pesticides and other modifications to food products derived from genetically modified organisms (GMO’s) that have an impact on human health. In our connected world, there is an immense interest for on-demand information about food quality prior to consumption. The gold standard method to detect pesticides or GMOs residues in food is complex and is not amenable to rapid consumer use. In this study, we demonstrate the feasibility of an electrochemical portable sensing approach for the simultaneous direct detection of spiked pesticides chlorpyrifos (Chlp) and GMOs protein Cry1Ab in real edamame soy matrix. The immunoassay based two-plex sensing platform was fabricated using respective antibody’s Chlp on one side and Cry1Ab on other side. A simple lab-on-kitchen level preparation of matrix has been demonstrated and sensor response was tested using non-faradaic electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), which showed a linear response in Cry1Ab/Chlp concentrations from 0.3 ng/mL to 243 ng/mL with limit of detection 0.3 ng /mL for both the target antigens (Cry1Ab and Chlp) respectively. The spiked and recovery test results fall within ± 20% error in real sample matrix which demonstrates the performance of the our platform with maximum residue limit (MRL) for the given targets. Such electrochemical portable multi-analyte direct sensing tool with simple matrix processing protocol can be a future commercial field-testing tool for use at everyday consumer level.
[Display omitted]
•Electrochemical Immunoassay based two-plex sensor.•Simultaneous detection of pesticides chlorpyrifos and GMO protein Cry1Ab in Edamame soy.•Simple lab-on kitchen approach for matrix preparation.•Direct detection of pesticide/GMO residue within regulatory limit in real food blend.