Smartphone-integrated Nanozyme approaches for rapid and on-site detection: Empowering smart food safety

Abstract

Smartphone-integrated nanozyme technologies (S-INTs) have emerged as a promising solution for rapid, on-site food safety analysis, addressing the detection of foodborne pathogens, contaminants, and hazards. While the applications of nanozymes in food safety are well-reviewed, their integration with smartphones for real-time biosensing remains underexplored. This review highlights advancements in S-INTs, emphasizing predominant merits such as portability, real-time data processing, and user-friendly interfaces. Recent progress includes detecting pathogens, food additives, nutrients, and hazardous residues like pesticides and veterinary drugs. Furthermore, we explore the potential of combining S-INTs with artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), deep learning (DL), and 3D printing to enhance detection sensitivity and broaden their applications. Critical challenges such as improving sensitivity, enabling multiplexing, and validating field applications are also discussed. Notably, these advancements hold immense potential to empower smart food safety systems, enabling real-time and on-site detection to ensure food quality and safeguard public health.

Keywords: Food safety; On-site biosensing; Portable sensors; Rapid detection; Smartphone-integrated nanozymes.