Recent progress on electrochemical biosensing of aflatoxins: A review

Aflatoxin contamination causes tremendous economic losses and seriously threatens human health due to its prevalence in agricultural products and foods coupled with the severe toxicity of aflatoxins. Thus, sensitive, reliable, and rapid methods for aflatoxin analysis are urgently required. In recent years, electrochemical biosensors have emerged as a suitable alternative to gold standard methods that rely on sophisticated instruments (e.g. HPLC-MS). This review aims to describe recent advances (2016–2019) in electrochemical biosensors for aflatoxins detection in novel sensing strategies, recognition reporters, and integrated platforms. Particular emphasis is placed on the utilization of novel sensing strategies including dual-mode detection and ratiometric sensing in the fabrication of biosensors based on electrochemistry, photoelectrochemistry, and electrochemiluminescence. Meanwhile, a comprehensive discussion is provided on the challenges and perspectives related to electrochemical biosensing of aflatoxins.