Gold-Ceria nanocomposite based highly sensitive and selective aptasensing platform for the detection of the Chlorpyrifos in Solanum tuberosum

Abstract

Contamination of food products due to the pesticide is a common problem. Pesticides, being one of the most harmful chemicals to human beings necessitates early and rapid on-site diagnostics to avoid chronic diseases due to their exposure. Their early and quick detection of edible products is crucial from the food safety point of view. We have fabricated an electrochemical aptasensing platform for the detection of Chlorpyrifos (CPF) using gold-ceria nanocomposite (Au@CeO2 nc). The electrochemical aptasensing platform has shown excellent linear response against CPF with good linearity of R2 = 0.96 in the range of 10 pM to 500 nM. The sensitivity of the aptasensor was evaluated from the slope of the calibration plot given by 12.68 mA nM−1 cm−2 and the limit of detection was estimated to be 0.12 pM. The applicability in vegetable samples was estimated by utilizing spiked cucumber (Cucumis sativus) and potato (Solanum tuberosum) samples of which Solanum tuberosum showed very good detection. Then extract from potato was used directly with increasing volume and studied against the electrochemical aptasensing platform where very good linearity and sensitivity were obtained. These studies demonstrate that the electrochemical aptasensing platform can be utilized for quick, label-free, and highly sensitive detection of pesticide, Chlorpyrifos in real samples.