A fluorogenic capped mesoporous aptasensor for gluten detection

Celiac disease is a complex and autoimmune disorder caused by the ingestion of gluten affecting almost 1% of global population. Nowadays an effective treatment does not exist, and the only way to manage the disease is the removal of gluten from the diet. Owing the key role played by gluten, clear and regulated labelling of foodstuff and smart methods for gluten detection are needed to fight frauds on food industry and to avoid the involuntary ingestion of this protein by celiac patients. On that scope, the development of a novel detection system of gluten is here presented. The sensor consists of nanoporous anodic alumina films loaded with a fluorescent dye and capped with an aptamer that recognizes gliadin (gluten's soluble proteins). In the presence of gliadin, aptamer sequences displace from the surface of anodic alumina resulting in pore opening and dye delivery. The dispositive shows a limit of detection (LOD) of 100 mu g kg(-1) of gliadin, good selectivity and a detection time of approximately 60 min. Moreover, the sensor is validated in real food samples. This novel probe allows fast gluten detection through a simple signalling process with potential use for food control. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

Celiac disease is a global disorder affecting nearly 1% of the population, with no effective treatment available yet, resulting in the need to manage the disease by eliminating gluten from the diet. To combat food industry fraud and prevent inadvertent ingestion by celiac patients, clear labeling of food items and smart gluten detection methods are required. A novel gluten detection system utilizing nanoporous anodic alumina films and fluorescent dye has been developed, providing a rapid detection time of approximately 60 minutes with good selectivity and a detection limit of 100 μg kg(-1) in real food samples.