In-field detection of multiple pathogenic bacteria in food products using a portable fluorescent biosensing system

- A portable fluorescent biosensing system was built and assessed.
- In-field detection of three main foodborne bacterial pathogens was conducted.
- Blind samples were tested in three foods from big agricultural cities in China.
- Total detection time from sampling to results was less than 60 min.

Foodborne diseases caused by pathogenic bacteria have increasingly become a major public health issue worldwide. Rapid, simple, and accurate detection methods are urgently needed for in-field screening of bacterial pathogens. In our previous work, rapid detection methodologies have been established based on fluorescent nanobiosensors for simultaneous separation and detection of multiple foodborne pathogenic bacteria. In this research, a portable fluorescent biosensing system was designed and built and further assessed for in-field detection of three main types of bacterial pathogens that have been associated with the outbreaks of foodborne illness. Using the developed fluorescent nanobiosensor coupled with nanobead-based immunomagnetic separation, we conducted blind tests with the portable device to simultaneously detect E. coli O157:H7, L. monocytogenes, and S. Typhimurium in different food products in three cities selected from three big agricultural provinces in China. Specificity tests showed low interference of this multiplex biosensor from non-targets in food samples. The detection could be done from sampling to results within 60 min. Limits of detections of this method for E. coli O157:H7, L. monocytogenes, and S. Typhimurium were determined to be 102, 103, and 103 CFU/mL in lettuce, shrimp, and ground beef, respectively. Recovery tests were also investigated and this method was evaluated to be accurate comparing with the gold standard culturing method. Therefore, it is feasible for this portable fluorescence biosensing system to be used in rapid and in-field screening of multiple foodborne pathogenic bacteria in foods, such as vegetables, livestock meat, and sea food. And together with fluorescent nanobiosensors, it provides a promising alternative tool to traditional culturing method, or even conventional ELISA and PCR based methods.