Nanoparticle-supported electrochemical sensors for pesticide analysis in fruit juices

Abstract

Pesticides, used to destroy insects, diseases, and weeds in agricultural products, have increased agricultural activities in countries in recent years. While they have helped reduce the number of pests affecting crops and improved agricultural yields, they have also caused significant environmental hazards. Their toxicity damages the habitats of beneficial creatures, wild animals, and the targeted pests. Additionally, pesticides have a lengthy half-life in the environment, which allows them to build up in species' tissues and go up the food chain, a process known as bioaccumulation and biomagnification. This is a danger to both ecological balance and human health. While a certain amount of excessively used pesticides has a positive effect, increasing amounts remain in the soil and environment as residues. Pesticide residues in the soil pass into foods and fruits. Therefore, there has been a critical need to design electrochemical sensors for sensitive, selective, and rapid analysis of pesticides. Electrochemical sensors offer economical, cost-effective, easy to apply, environmentally friendly, sensitive, and selective advantages for quality and reliable analysis of foods. In addition, many functional nanomaterials are used to increase these sensors' innovative designs and selective and sensitive structures. In this review, the properties, structures, and recent developments regarding the use of the most commonly used nanomaterials in electrochemical sensors designed for pesticide analysis are examined in detail.

Furthermore, the requirements, structural features, and future development of electrochemical sensors that can be prepared cost-effectively and rapidly for sensitive and selective analysis of fruit pesticide residues have been examined and explained in detail. For this reason, the studies in the literature on pesticide analysis in fruits in the last 5 years are summarized, and some studies are explained in detail. Finally, this study will shed light on the studies on fruit pesticide analysis.