Applications of Biosensors in Food Industry

G. Murugaboopathi1, V. Parthasarathy2, C. Chellaram^3*, T. Prem Anand³ and S. Vinurajkumar³

1Department of Information Technology,

2Department of Computer Science and Engineering,

3Department of Biomedical Engineering, Vel Tech Multi Tech Dr. RR Dr.SR Engineering College, Chennai-600 062. Tamilnaud. India

DOI : http://dx.doi.org/10.13005/bbra/1185

ABSTRACT:

Food processing industry faces various challenges; one of the foremost challenges is the need for quick and cost effective methods to detect the presence of allergenic components and pathogens in the food. Biosensors pave way for the rapid detection of pathogens, allergens as well as pesticide residues in food. Detection of contaminants, verification of product contents, product freshness and monitoring of raw materials conversion are the areas of potential biosensor applications. Generally in the food and the agricultural industries, chemical and microbiological analyses are done periodically by trained operators, which are expensive and require steps of extraction or sample pretreatment, increasing the time of analysis. Biosensors can overcome all these disadvantages by offering rapid, non-destructive and affordable methods for quality control. Biosensors have the potential to produce an analytical revolution to resolve the challenges in the agricultural and the food industries. This review gives an overview of various types of biosensors used in the food industry and outlines its future prospects.

KEYWORDS: Quality Control; Food Industry; Optical biosensor; Biolum

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