BIOFOS: a micro-ring resonator-based biophotonic system for food analysis – application to olive oil contaminants

Current detection methods for contaminants in food use high-tech equipment sited in specialized laboratories. This makes online quality control along the food chain difficult. Official regulations limit pesticide and heavy-metal contamination, mainly for organic production, although their analysis is quite expensive, requires skilled personnel and is very difficult to apply to a large number of oil batches. The BIOFOS Project (ICT-FP7-GA.N.611528) aims to develop and validate a Lab-on-a-Chip (LoC) multianalyser, based on micro-biophotonic sensors, for in-situ food contaminant analysis. This device includes biosensors for milk analysis (aflatoxin M1, antibiotic and lactose), nuts (aflatoxin B1), dried fruits (ochratoxin A) and olive oil (organophosphates and metals). BIOFOS combines four high-tech platforms: (1) a photonic platform based on micro-ring resonators (MRR) for signal quantification, (2) a biological platform based on aptamers for analyte detection, (3) a nanochemical platform to immobilize aptamers onto the chip surface and (4) a microfluidic platform for sample pre-treatment and its loading into the biosensor. The project is organized in work packages in order to develop the technological platforms. End-user requirements are also considered, as well as existing fast analysis kits that will be compared against the device. Validation protocols and exploitation plans are also included. BIOFOS applications for olive oil analysis are discussed, in terms of accuracy, sensitivity, time-to-result and cost per sample.