Electrical detection of pathogenic bacteria in food samples using information visualization methods with a sensor based on magnetic nanoparticles functionalized with antimicrobial peptides.

Outbreaks of foodborne diseases demand simple, rapid techniques for detecting pathogenic bacteria beyond the standard methods that are not applicable to routine analysis in the food industry and in the points of food consumption. In this work, we developed a sensitive, rapid and low-cost assay for detecting Escherichia coli (E. coli), Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Salmonella typhimurium (S. typhi) in potable water and apple juice. The assay is based on electrical impedance spectroscopy measurements with screen-printed interdigitated electrodes coupled with magnetite nanoparticles functionalized with the antimicrobial peptide melittin (MLT). The data were analyzed with the information visualization methods Sammon's Mapping and Interactive Document Map to distinguish samples at two levels of contamination from food suitable for consumption. With this approach it has been possible to detect E. coli concentration down to 1 CFU mL in potable water and 3.5 CFU mL in apple juice without sample preparation, within only 25 min. This approach may serve as a low-cost, quick screening procedure to detect bacteria-related food poisoning, especially if the impedance data of several sensing units are combined.