Nanoparticles-assisted lateral flow immunoassays for mycotoxins: A state-of-the-art review

Abstract

The global concerns on mycotoxins contamination in different matrices have accelerated the development of analytical techniques. Of them, nanoparticles (NPs)-assisted lateral flow immunoassays (LFIAs) have attracted increasing interests for the on-site point-of-care detection of mycotoxins. The introduction of anti-bodies as recognition elements and NPs with unique structures and properties as the active elements has greatly improved the analytical performance of LFIAs. The real applications for mycotoxins detection and corresponding publications have grown exponentially over the past decades. Therefore, in this review, we first summarize the detection principle, development trend, and novel fabrication strategy of NPs-assisted LFIAs for single-target detection and multiplexed analysis of mycotoxins. Then, we concentrate on the recent real applications and played roles of NPs and their nanocomposites as signal labels, encapsulating materials, catalysts, magnetic absorption and separation materials, and fluorescence quenchers in constructing diverse LFIA platforms through the elaborate evaluation of different proof-of-concept cases. A special highlight is given to colored-, fluorescent-, photothermal-, and SERS-active-type NPs as nano-labels. Beyond a comprehensive commentary of advantages and potential limitations of the emerging NPs-assisted LFIAs for mycotoxins monitoring, we critically discuss their current challenges and future perspectives. It is anticipated that this systematically-presented review will provide essential insights into the development of NPs-assisted LFIA and their extensive applications in different fields to safeguard food safety and public health.