Smart Fiber-Optic WaveFlex Biosensor With Nano-Interface for Acrylamide Monitoring in Food Safety Applications

Acrylamide (AA), a harmful aliphatic amide, is produced during the thermal processing of food as a result of the Maillard reaction between asparagine and reducing sugars. It has neurotoxic effects and can cause cognitive impairment with long-term exposure. Moreover, chronic intake of AA may increase the risk of various types of cancer, including pancreatic and thyroid cancer. AA is often found in foods cooked at high temperatures, thereby highlighting its role in food quality assessment. Therefore, there is a need for more accurate, practical, rapid, and straightforward methods to detect AA in various samples. In this study, a highly sensitive and selective smart fiber-optic WaveFlex biosensing method based on localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) is proposed for the detection of AA. The fiber surface is functionalized with gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), and zinc oxide nanowires (ZnO-NWs) to provide a larger surface area for the immobilization of AA antibodies, which, in turn, significantly improved the sensor’s performance. The results showed that the developed sensor could efficiently detect AA with high specificity due to the presence of AA antibodies. Subsequent research confirmed that the proposed biosensor exhibited excellent stability, repeatability, and reusability, with a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.438 <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu $ </tex-math></inline-formula>g/mL and a sensitivity of 0.685 nm/(<inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu $ </tex-math></inline-formula>g/mL). Thus, the proposed optical fiber sensor holds significant potential for detecting the presence of AA in various deep-fried foods prepared at high temperatures.