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Food safety is a critical issue that is closely related to people's health and safety. As a simple, rapid, and sensitive detection technique, surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) technology has significant potential for food safety detection. Recently, researchers have shown a growing interest in utilizing silent region molecules for SERS analysis. These molecules exhibit significant Raman scattering peaks in the cellular Raman silent region between 1800 and 2800 cm−1 avoiding overlapping with the SERS spectrum of biological matrices in the range 600–1800 cm−1, which could effectively circumvent matrix effects and improve the SERS accuracy. In this review, the application of silent region molecules-based SERS analytical technique for food safety detection is introduced, detection strategies including label-free detection and labeled detection are discussed, and recent applications of SERS analysis technology based on molecules containing alkyne and nitrile groups, as well as Prussian blue (PB) in the detection of pesticides, mycotoxins, metal ions, and foodborne pathogens are highlighted. This review aims to draw the attention to the silent region molecules-based SERS analytical technique and to provide theoretical support for its further applications in food safety detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors describe an ultra-sensitive approach for the determination of lead(II) by using a lead-specific aptamer and a fluorophore derived from perylenetetracarboxylic acid diimide (PTCDI). The fluorescence of PTCDI, with excitation/emission peaks at 494/543 nm, is quenched by the aptamer but restored if the aptamer binds lead(II). A detection scheme has been worked out that has a 0.1 ng·mLlimit of detection and a dynamic range that extends from 0.1 ng·mL to 10 μg·mL. The assay also demonstrates high selectivity for lead ions over nine other ions due to the aptamer's high specificity. The method shows a average recovery of 77.2-93.4% with an RSD of less than 3% in water samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is known that gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) possess peroxidase-like activity. They can catalyze the oxidation of 3,3,5,5-tetramethylbenzidine by HO which leads to a color change from red to blue. It is shown here that the peroxidase-like activity of AuNPs can be inhibited by passivating its surface passivation with a ssDNA aptamer against sulfadimethoxine. If, however, the target molecule (sulfadimethoxine) is present, the aptamer is desorbed from the AuNPs surface, and this results in the reactivation of the catalytic property of the AuNPs. The color change of the solution (from purple to blue) is related to the analyte concentration, and this can be judged visually or by UV-visible absorptiometry at 650 nm. The assay, under optimized conditions, has a detection limit of 10 ng·mL of sulfadimethoxine, and the calibration plot is linear over a rather wide concentration range (0.01-1000 μg·mL). The assay can be performed within <15 min, is sensitive, and therefore is well suited for fast screening in food analysis. Conceivably, it can be extended to many other small analytes for which aptamers are available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to develop an aptamer based fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) assay for 19-nortestosterone, a 76-mer 17β-estradiol aptamer was split into two pieces (referred to as P1 and P2, respectively). P1 was labeled with a quencher (BHQ), and P2 with a fluorophore (6FAM). The two aptamer pieces were employed to detect NT via FRET quenching in a homogeneous solution. This method has a low detection limit (5 μM) within a wide dynamic range (5 to 1000 μM). The approach was used to analyze spiked urine samples, and the results showed that the average recovery of three samples containing different NT concentrations ranged from 58 to 118 % with a relative standard deviation (RSD) of less than 1 %. In our perception, the method has a wide scope for future applications to other analytes by using dually labeled split aptamers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel and highly sensitive enzyme inhibition assay was developed for the rapid detection of the organophosphate pesticide dichlorvos and the carbamate pesticide carbofuran. It achieves signal amplification by the secondary catalysis of platinum nanoparticles. Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) is capable of catalyzing the hydrolysis of acetylthiocholine to form thiocholine. Thiocholine causes the aggregation of citrate-capped platinum nanoparticles which then lose their peroxidase-mimicking properties. After addition of pesticides, the activity of AChE is inhibited, less thiocholine is produced, less aggregation occurs, and the peroxidase-mimetic properties are increasingly retained. In the presence of tetramethylbenzidine and H2O2, a deep blue coloration with an absorption maximum at 650 nm will be formed. The assay was applied to the determination of dichlorvos and carbofuran, and detection limits of 2.3 μg·L−1 and 1.4 μg·L−1 were obtained, respectively. Recovery experiments with spiked tap water and pears gave satisfactory relative standard deviations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A competitive bio-barcode immunoassay is described for the trace detection of parathion in water, pear, cabbage, and rice samples. It is based on amplification by platinum nanoparticle acting as a nanozyme. Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) were modified with (a) monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against parathion, and (b) thiolated single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) oligonucleotides. Magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) were functionalized with ovalbumin coupled with parathion hapten. Parathion and its hapten compete with mAbs on the surface of the AuNPs. Subsequently, the platinum nanoparticles (PtNPs) probe, which was functionalized with the complementary thiolated ssDNA (C-ssDNA), was added to the reaction mixture for the detection of parathion. The signal was catalytically amplified by coupling with platinum nanozyme using teramethylbenzidine and H2O2 as the chromogenic system. The immunoassay has a linear range that extends from 0.01–50 μg·L−1, and the limit of detection is 2.0 × 10−3 μg·L−1. The recoveries and relative standard deviations (RSDs) ranged from 91.1–114.4% and 3.6–15.8%, respectively. The method correlates well with data obtained by gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The published version of this article, unfortunately, contains error. Author name was corrected as "A. M. Abd EI-Aty" - upper case of "i" in "EI-Aty", instead of "A. M. Abd El-Aty" - lower case of "L". Given in this paper is the correct author name. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A class-specific molecular imprinted polymer (MIP) is described for simultaneous recognition of prometryn and simetryn prior to their determination via a fingerprint signal (at 974 cm−1 and 1074 cm−1) in the surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectra that were acquired in the presence of gold nanoparticles. The imprinted nanoparticles were applied to the analysis of rice and wheat samples spiked with both herbicides. The method has fairly good recoveries (72.7-90.9%) with a relative standard deviation of 1.7-7.8%, and a 20 μg·kg−1 limit of detection. The imprint factors (compared to non-imprinted polymers) are 5.3 for prometryn and 4.2 for simetryn (both at 10 μg·mL−1 of the initial solution).A MIP-SERS method was developed for simultaneous detection of triazine herbicides (prometryn and simetryn) in food samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]