Direct Detection of Bacteria on Fresh Produce

Shin Horikawa, Yating Chai, Howard C. Wikle, James M. Barbaree, Bryan A. Chin

2016

Abstract

This paper presents a revolutionary method of bacterial detection that directly detects and quantifies the presence of specific bacteria on the surfaces of fresh produce without sample preparation (water rinse, soak, stomaching) and/or enrichment. The speed of detection is from 2 to 10 minutes with a limit of detection in a range of 10^2 to 10^4 cfu/mm^2. The specificity of detection is 2 in 10^6 background bacteria. This technology was awarded a $20,000 prize in the first United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Food Safety Challenge. The method combines wireless magnetoelastic (ME) biosensors and a surface-scanning detector for rapid determination of bacterial contamination. Tests were conducted on tomatoes and grapes spiked with different concentrations of Salmonella Typhimurium. The resonant frequency changes of the biosensors were found to be dependent on the surface concentration of Salmonella. Detection limits were found to be affected by the surface roughness of the food. A 90-second video of a test for Salmonella on tomato can be viewed at http://eng.auburn.edu/food-safety. The method presented in this paper is envisioned for use at ports of entry for the swift screening of foods.

Paper Citation

in Harvard Style

Horikawa S., Chai Y., Wikle H., Barbaree J. and Chin B. (2016). Direct Detection of Bacteria on Fresh Produce . In Proceedings of the 9th International Joint Conference on Biomedical Engineering Systems and Technologies - Volume 1: BIODEVICES, (BIOSTEC 2016) ISBN 978-989-758-170-0, pages 48-53. DOI: 10.5220/0005670100480053

in Bibtex Style

@conference{biodevices16,
author={Shin Horikawa and Yating Chai and Howard C. Wikle and James M. Barbaree and Bryan A. Chin},
title={Direct Detection of Bacteria on Fresh Produce},
booktitle={Proceedings of the 9th International Joint Conference on Biomedical Engineering Systems and Technologies - Volume 1: BIODEVICES, (BIOSTEC 2016)},
year={2016},
pages={48-53},
publisher={SciTePress},
organization={INSTICC},
doi={10.5220/0005670100480053},
isbn={978-989-758-170-0},
}

in EndNote Style

TY - CONF
JO - Proceedings of the 9th International Joint Conference on Biomedical Engineering Systems and Technologies - Volume 1: BIODEVICES, (BIOSTEC 2016)
TI - Direct Detection of Bacteria on Fresh Produce
SN - 978-989-758-170-0
AU - Horikawa S.
AU - Chai Y.
AU - Wikle H.
AU - Barbaree J.
AU - Chin B.
PY - 2016
SP - 48
EP - 53
DO - 10.5220/0005670100480053