Colorimetric sensors for detection of organophosphorus pesticides in food: From sensing strategies to chemometrics driven discrimination

Background

Organophosphorus pesticides (OPs) are the most widely used pesticides in agriculture, while their residues pose a potential threat to food safety and human health. The monitoring of OPs levels in food is of utmost importance. Meanwhile, the phenomenon of mixed-use multiple types of pesticides in agricultural production leads to the rise in analytical error. Identifying and discriminating multiple species of OPs with similar chemical structures is still challenging.

Scope and approach

Given the superior characteristics of colorimetry, in this review, colorimetric sensing strategies of OPs detection are first classified and summarized with specific recognition elements (biotic or abiotic) as the breakthrough point. Secondly, the colorimetric sensor arrays (CSAs) for OPs monitoring are reviewed, highlighting the design principles and analytical performances of chemometrics integrated CSAs for achieving simultaneous identification and discrimination of OPs in food. Finally, the current challenges and future perspectives in this hot topic are also discussed.

Key findings and conclusions

Emerging colorimetric sensors have showed great potential for the detection of OPs in food. Chemometrics integrated CSAs can efficiently conquer the deficiency of conventional “lock-and-key” sensing mode and inject new vitality for the identification and discrimination of multi-OPs.