The President of the Research Institute of Food Sciences and Technology (RIFST) has announced: RIFST's researchers have succeeded in designing sensors to detect contaminants in seafood.
Prof. Razavi added: In recent years, with the improvement of living standards and the rapid development of the fishing industry, seafood consumption has increased worldwide due to its high nutritional value and positive health effects. On the other hand, currently, with the increase in environmental pollutants, the risk of seafood poisoning has negative effects on the health of society and the seafood industry, in such a way that seafood contamination is considered as an important and potential risk for food safety.
He announced phycotoxin and heavy metals as two known sources of seafood contamination and said: Considering the importance of the issue in East Asian countries, a joint research project for the rapid measurement of these two pollutants was proposed and implemented in collaboration with RIFST and researchers from Tamkang University in Taiwan.
In this joint project, the development of ultra-sensitive and selective detection kits for monitoring seafood pollutants was put on the agenda, and based on liquid crystal technology, two highly sensitive biosensors were designed and built for measuring heavy metals and measuring phycotoxins.
Dr. Asma Vardian, the main researcher of this project, also said: liquid crystal technology is widely used in photonics, laser technology and electronics, and it is most widely used in LCD displays, where liquid crystal orientation changes according to the intensity of the applied electric field. She continued: Liquid crystals have short-range positions and long-range order, which are very sensitive to surface changes, so they are ideal candidates for the development of strong, advanced sensing systems independent of complex equipment.
The faculty member of the Institute added: In these new generation sensors, the presence of the analyte and its molecular interaction with the receptor are converted and amplified into visible optical images. LC sensors have high commercialization potential due to their high sensitivity, imaging and portability.
Referring to the foundation of the development of liquid crystal biosensors with application in the field of food safety with the aim of obtaining the technical knowledge of sustainable and practical kits at RIFST, she said: in order to complete and update this emerging technology, international communication with the scientists of this area has been established