Emergence of dyestuff chemistry-encoded signal tracers in immunochromatographic assays: Fundamentals and recent food applications

With the globalization of food supplies and worldwide concerns about foodborne illness, the food industry is confronting unprecedented safety challenges. Dyestuff chemistry, nanotechnology, and immunochromatography assay (ICA) have all been hot topics in recent decades, particularly in the respective professions. Regardless, the respective superiorities and weaknesses are difficult to integrate and overcome, hindering the widespread deployment in the food safety sector. In this review, the historical development and current mechanism design for various analysis patterns of dyestuff chemistry-encode signal tracers-based ICAs (dyestuff-based ICAs) for food safety monitoring are classified. And we highlight the construction strategy of dyestuff-encode signal tracers to obtain simpler steps, enhanced utilization efficiency, and brand-new function. Furthermore, the unique superiority and recent applications of dyestuff-based ICAs for food safety monitoring, as well as future-oriented innovation are reviewed. Finally, the challenges in this field were also spotlighted along with the outlook of profound developments for dyestuff-based ICAs in point-of-care (POC) settings. Dyestuff-based ICAs that combine multiple technologies emerge as POC tools for performing global food safety control owing to the rapidness, user-friendliness, and attraction on future-oriented innovation. Particularly with the maturation of traditional dyeing methods and the commercialization of related dyestuffs, dyestuff-based ICAs possess several merits, including cost-effectiveness, ease-of-labeling, and high performance while significantly shortening the distance from raw materials to ICA-based products. Following the advances in interdisciplinary innovations, dyestuff-based ICAs will undoubtedly reduce (or even eliminate) the inefficient back-and-forth between laboratories and tables, and spark a revolution in this field.