Qualitative characteristics of four Sicilian monofloral honeys from Apis mellifera ssp. sicula

Four monofloral honeys, obtained from the Sicilian black bee by foraging on thistle, sulla, chestnut and eucalyp-tus, were studied. Results showed that the phenolic composition of chestnut honey was the highest (316 mg gallic acid equivalent GAE/kg), while that of sulla honey was the lowest (122 mg GAE/kg). Data confirmed a correla-tion between the total phenol content and colour intensity in chestnut honey, which was the darkest of the four samples. Sulla honey showed the highest antioxidant activity, while eucalyptus honey had the highest mineral content (K, Ca, Mg, and Na). Thistle honey showed the most intense floral and fruity aromas, as well as an intense yellow colour. Principal component analysis showed the potential to discriminate different honeys in three different quadrants

Solid State Physics

Contains reports on four research projects

Solid State Physics

Contains reports on six research projects

Performance Assessment of Coupled Tests: The Effects of Statistical Non-Independence

Peer Reviewe

Label-free impedimetric immunosensors for sensitive detection of aflatoxin B1 in food

Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) is one of the mycotoxins highly resistant to food processing that enters the food chain and provide a threat to human health. In this paper, different immobilization techniques of the monoclonal anti-AFB1 on gold electrodes were tested and compared, in order to develop a label-free immunosensor able to detect AFB1 amount imposed by European legislation for adult and infant foods. Different materials, coupled with Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy as transduction technique, were used to improve immunosensors analytical parameters, such as linear range, sensitivity and limit of detection. Through the use of ferrocene molecules, the immunosensor showed linearity in the range 0.01-10 ng/mL and the lowest limit of detection (0.01 ng/mL), allowing the possibility to use it in a wide range of food products, including infant foods

Label-free impedimetric biosensors for the control of food safety–a review

The guarantee of food safety requires fast and accurate control for all contaminants, chemicals and bacteria, which are harmful to human health. Ensuring the safety and quality of food is the main interest both for the food industry and for consumers. In the food industry, the safety of a food product is evaluated through chemical and microbiological analysis: these procedures conventionally use the technique as chromatography, spectrophotometry and electrophoresis that are time-consuming, require highly trained personnel, are expensive and require steps of sample pretreatment, increasing the time of analysis. Consequently, among food and beverage industries, exists a growing demand in biosensing technologies as simple, rapid, accurate, low - cost and portable analytical devices for the monitoring and detection of chemical and microbiological contaminants (toxins, mycotoxins, pathogenic bacteria, pesticides and allergens) that endanger the food safety. Among biosensors, the label-free biosensors, characterised by direct detection of the analyte of interest, exploiting the advantages of an impedimetric transduction technique, seem to be the most promising devices for the future. In the last years, the potential use of Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy technique has been widely considered in the biosensor field; it is, in fact, a powerful, non-destructive and informative technique which can be used to study the electrical properties of the sensing device interface and to trace the reactions that occur on it. For these reasons, the application of impedimetric technique as a transduction technology has allowed the label-free detection and sensitive quantification of the bio interaction in different application and thus for the development of food hazards biosensors too. This review provides the current situation in the literature on label-free impedimetric biosensors in food safety