Application of nano-ELISA in food analysis: Recent advances and challenges

Owing to its advantages such as simplicity, good sensitivity and ease of operation, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) has been a powerful tool in food safety and verification. However, the relatively low sensitivity and accuracy are the main limitations of traditional ELISA, which have hindered its application in food analysis. Thus, it is of ultra-importance to construct effective strategies to solve the problem. Till now, great progress has been made in boosting the accuracy, sensitivity and stability to improve traditional ELISA. Fortunately, the nanomaterials-based ELISA (nano-ELISA) greatly developed ELISA and behaved superior performance. In this review, recent advances about nano-ELISA are discussed in four basic parts including absorbent substrate, recognition element, enzyme label and chromogenic agent as well as the related application in food analysis, which provides a new train of thought and tactics for other techniques such as biosensors in electrochemistry, optics and magnetism.