Electrochemical biosensors based on nanomaterials for aflatoxins detection: A review (2015–2021)

Due to their immunotoxicity, aflatoxins are considered as very important natural contaminants of a wide variety of agricultural products. Although conventional techniques such as high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and gas chromatography (GC) combined with mass spectrometry (MS) have traditionally been used to detect such food contaminants, they are relatively expensive, laborious, and time consuming which limits their use for in field analysis at the so-called point-of-care (POC). Electrochemical biosensors are emerging devices that meet these expectations since they rely in reliable, simple, inexpensive, portable, selective, and easy-to-use analytical procedures and instruments that can be used by unskilled personnel outside the laboratory. In this context, in this review article we summarize and provide authoritative opinion on the use of electrochemical biosensors for aflatoxins of interest for food control. Even though previous reviews have rightly covered this issue, the continuous research and improvements in this field, mostly related to the use of novel nanomaterials, make an update much needed. For this reason, this review covers the most relevant approaches reported in the period 2015–2021, focusing for the first time on the use of nanomaterials for improving the biosensors performance. The principles of the different strategies developed are discussed, and some examples of relevant approaches are highlighted, together with future prospects and challenges.