FOODSENS

CUP: H53D23005380006

Programma di finanziamento: PRIN 2022

Ente finanziatore: MUR

Periodo: 14/10/2023-13/10/2025

Finanziamento totale: € 102.900,00

Partner:

• ISPA-CNR

Descrizione

FOODsens aims to demonstrate the use of sensor-based rapid testing systems for the monitoring of microorganisms (namely fungi, bacteria and yeasts) and their metabolites, particularly the mycotoxin Ochratoxin A (OTA), which might affect the shelf-life and safety of plant-based minimally processed foods (PBMPFs). The sensors will be applied and optimised for ease of use, thus demonstrating the operational and economic benefits of their adoption by food producers and handlers at regional, national, and international levels. We will fine-tune and validate three advanced portable optical sensors platforms (Fig. 1) for: i) on-site assessment of microorganisms’ contamination by an autonomous handheld reader and sensor coatings into sample vials, and a semi-automatic platform for batch analysis (setup A); ii) on-site assessment of microorganisms’ contamination by an autonomous handheld reader and sensor inserts into sample bags when low counts are expected (setup B); iii) on-site assessment of the mycotoxin OTA by an autonomous handheld reader and a colorimetric reaction based on an OTA aptamer sandwich system (setup C); such portable platform (C) will be combined in an integrated workflow with setup(s) A/B for the on-site fast detection of mycotoxigenic fungi and OTA. Platform C will also be evaluated in combination with the semi-automatic platform A for batch testing. These sensors have already been validated for meat and urine [1-5]. In FOODsense, the proposed sensors will be further validated for their use on PBMPFs in laboratory conditions, and then demonstrated in semi industrial settings, with different PBMPFs (fresh fruits/vegetables, dry nuts/grains, liquid juices/purees, etc.), with the view of replacing the costly, slow, and laborious conventional techniques for assessing microbiological quality (i.e., colony counting tests) and mycotoxin contamination (i.e., Liquid Chromatography coupled with Mass Spectrometry of Fluorometric Detectors, HPLC-MS/FLD). Adoption of the FOODsens approach will provide easier, faster and more comprehensive microbial and mycotoxin testing; significant improvement of batch release timing (same shift/day to result vs current 48-72h); reduced product losses due to microbial or mycotoxin contaminations; better control of production processes, and more frequent assessment of safety and hygiene of commodities and working environments. FOODsens relies on the team's strong expertise in the shelf-life of PBMPFs, in sensor technologies, in bioassays development for food applications, in the significant preliminary R&D work, and in strategic alliance with leading Italian food companies in the market of PBMPFs, who are willing to guest the demonstration steps of the sensors developed in this project, and with the researchers of the PhotoBioLab in University College Cork (Ireland), who are willing to support the research activities in the FOODsense