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Review
. 2025 Jul 21;15(7):468.
doi: 10.3390/bios15070468.

Electrochemical (Bio)Sensors for Toxins, Foodborne Pathogens, Pesticides, and Antibiotics Detection: Recent Advances and Challenges in Food Analysis

Marta Feroci  1 , Gerardo Grasso  2 , Roberto Dragone  2 , Antonella Curulli  2
Affiliations
Review

Electrochemical (Bio)Sensors for Toxins, Foodborne Pathogens, Pesticides, and Antibiotics Detection: Recent Advances and Challenges in Food Analysis

Marta Feroci et al. Biosensors (Basel). .

Abstract

Food safety plays an important and fundamental role, primarily for human health and certainly for the food industry. In this context, developing efficient, highly sensitive, safe, inexpensive, and fast analytical methods for determining chemical and biological contaminants, such as electrochemical (bio)sensors, is crucial. The development of innovative and high-performance electrochemical (bio)sensors can significantly support food chain monitoring. In this review, we have surveyed and analyzed the latest examples of electrochemical (bio)sensors for the analysis of some common biological contaminants, such as toxins and pathogenic bacteria and chemical contaminants, such as pesticides, and antibiotics.

Keywords: antibiotics; electrochemical biosensors; food; foodborne pathogens; pesticides; safety; toxins.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Classification of the different types of (bio)sensors.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The electrochemical techniques used for biosensing applications.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Schematic illustration of the biosensor used to determine OTA and AFB1. Reprinted with permission from [61]. Copyright 2024, Elsevier.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Scheme showing the process of synthesizing the Bi2S3@CNF nanocomposite and the working mechanism of the electrochemical sensor. Reprinted with permission from [65]. Copyright 2024, Elsevier.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Scheme illustrating the assembly and the working mechanism of the electrochemical biosensor. Reprinted with permission from [72]. Copyright 2025, Elsevier.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Scheme illustrating the assembly and the working mechanism of the portable immunosensor. Reprinted with permission from [83]. Copyright 2025, Elsevier.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Scheme illustrating the synthesis of the PDA@ZnMoO4/MXene composite and the determination procedure of Listeria monocytogenes. Reprinted with permission from [93]. Copyright 2025, Elsevier.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Scheme illustrating the biosensor assembling and the determination procedure of Salmonella. Reprinted with permission from [107]. Copyright 2025, Elsevier.
Figure 9
Figure 9
Scheme illustrating the aptasensor development and detection mechanism of E. coli. Reprinted with permission from [117]. Copyright 2025, Elsevier.
Figure 10
Figure 10
Scheme illustrating the composite synthesis, the sensor development and the detection approach of DFC. Reprinted with permission from [128]. Copyright 2025, Elsevier.
Figure 11
Figure 11
Scheme illustrating the composite synthesis, the sensor development and the detection approach of DDVP. Reprinted with permission from [134]. Copyright 2025, Elsevier.
Figure 12
Figure 12
Scheme showing the composite synthesis, the sensor development and the detection approach of OTC. Reprinted with permission from [145]. Copyright 2025, Elsevier.
Figure 13
Figure 13
Scheme showing the sensor development and the detection approach of TC. Reprinted with permission from [159]. Copyright 2024, Elsevier.
Figure 14
Figure 14
Scheme illustrating the sensor development and the detection approach of E. coli. Reprinted with permission from [162]. Copyright 2025, Elsevier.
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