Electrochemical Detection of Biomolecules for Agriculture and Farming Applications

Abstract

There is an increasing interest in developing efficient techniques to detect agri-based biomolecules and biomarkers to improve food production and quality. Electrochemical sensors and biosensors are desirable over conventional analytical techniques due to the advantages of instrumental simplicity, rapid response, high sensitivity, cost-effectiveness, and portability [1-4]. The development of nanomaterials has paved the way for their applicability in designing high-performance electrochemical sensing devices for agriculture and environmental applications. Hydroxyproline (Hyp) is a significant amino acid present in connective tissues and extracellular matrix in all animal cells. Hyp's quantitative analysis plays a vital role in the quality testing of chicken, swine, and beef meat in farming. In the animal farming industry, sodium metabisulfite (SMBS) is used as a feed additive to control the effect of deoxynivalenol (DON), a mycotoxin from Fusarium Species. The monitoring of SMBS is essential as its over-dosage may cause significant side effects like stomach upset or heaviness. In this presentation, the synthesis of gold nanoparticles and graphene-based nanocomposites, and their applications for the detection of Hyp and SMBS are highlighted. Our study has shown that gold nanoparticles exhibit high sensitivity (8.5 μA/μM cm-2), a low limit of detection (2.6 μM), and a wide linear range for the detection of Hyp. The fabricated gold and fluorine-doped reduced graphene oxide nanocomposites show high-performance for detecting SMBS in different digestive fluids such as stimulated salivary fluid and simulated gastric fluid. The roles of nanomaterials in the electrochemical sensing applications are also discussed.[1] V.S. Manikandan, B.R. Adhikari, A. Chen, Analyst, 143, 4537-4554 (2018).[2] Z. Liu, V.S. Manikandan, A. Chen,Curr. Opin. Electrochem., 16, 127-133 (2019).[3] S. Durairaj, B. Sidhureddy, A. Chen, J. Electrochem. Soc., 167, 167511 (2020).[4] J. van der Zalm, S. Chen, W. Huang, A. Chen, J. Electrochem. Soc., 167 , 037532 (2020).