Inside out: Exploring edible biocatalytic biosensors for health monitoring

Abstract

Edible biosensors can measure a wide range of physiological and biochemical parameters, including temperature, pH, gases, gastrointestinal biomarkers, enzymes, hormones, glucose, and drug levels, providing real-time data. Edible biocatalytic biosensors represent a new frontier within healthcare technology available for remote medical diagnosis. The main challenges to develop edible biosensors are: i) finding edible materials (i.e. redox mediators, conductive materials, binders and biorecognition elements such as enzymes) complying with Food and Drug Administration (FDA), European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and European Medicines Agency (EMEA) regulations; ii) developing bioelectronics able to operate in extreme working conditions such as low pH (∼pH 1.5 gastric fluids etc.), body temperature (between 37 °C and 40 °C) and highly viscous bodily fluids that may cause surface biofouling issues. Nowadays, advanced printing techniques can revolutionize the design and manufacturing of edible biocatalytic biosensors. This review outlines recent research on biomaterials suitable for creating edible biocatalytic biosensors, focusing on their electrochemical properties such as electrical conductivity and redox potential. It also examines biomaterials as substrates for printing and discusses various printing methods, highlighting challenges and perspectives for edible biocatalytic biosensors.

Keywords: Edible and biocompatible materials; Edible biocatalytic biosensors; Food grade enzymes; Gastrointestinal glucose sensing; Modified electrodes.