Biosensors: Design, Classification, and Applications in the Food Industry

Biosensors are promising analytical tools applicable in clinical diagnostics, food industry, environmental monitoring, and other areas in which rapid and reliable analyses are needed. This review covers the basic types of biosensors and their designs and general operating principles. A classification of biosensors according to the type of transducer they involve and according to the nature of the biological entity used as the recognition element is presented. Methods of immobilization of biological components, namely, adsorption, microencapsulation, inclusion, cross-linking, and covalent binding are briefly characterized. The main areas of application of biosensors in the food industry—food safety and quality assessment, process monitoring, and others—are considered.