Recent advancements in nanomaterials-based aptasensors for the detection of emerging contaminants in foodstuffs

The presence of emerging contaminants (ECs) can pose human health risks in diverse forms such as endocrine disruption, tumors, reproductive failure, and fetal damage. It is thus important to develop sensitive techniques to monitor the levels of ECs in foodstuffs with accuracy and selectivity. In recent years, aptasensors have emerged as bioprobes for the detection of diverse ECs with many advantages, especially in the food safety applications. To contextualize such developments, this review has been organized to offer an extensive description of aptasensors developed for the monitoring of ECs in foodstuffs in the recent past, with emphasis on electrochemical, optical, and photoelectrochemical aptasensors. Further, performance evaluation has also been made between various aptasensors in terms of the basic quality assurance parameters. This review delineates a comprehensive analysis of the aptasensing techniques to help promote the mass-scale detection of ECs along with the discussions on their merits/demerits and future challenges.