PRIN 2022 “B-PLAS”

PRIN 2022 “B-PLAS”

Title: Bound states in the continuum PLAtform for ultrasensitive Sensing of mycotoxins in contamined food

Why: Mycotoxins are “natural” contaminants of foods and are classified as secondary metabolites produced by microfungi that can cause disease and death in humans and other animals. All mycotoxins are low-molecular-weight molecules and constitute chemically heterogeneous groups of toxic compounds. Ochratoxins (OTs) are a group of mycotoxins, produced by different Penicillium and Aspergillus molds contaminating cereals, legumes, grapes, coffee beans. Due to their high stability, OTs can pollute also foods obtained with contaminated ingredients, as fermentation products (wine, beer, cider). The myco-toxicologically most relevant compound among those identified is Ochratoxin A (OTA), well known for its nephrotoxic effects. Given the known human exposure and the abundance of toxicological data from animal studies, the European Union Scientific Committee has recommended that OTA levels should be lower than 5 ng/kg of body weight per day and has set the maximum levels allowed in processed food, as wine, beer, coffee. The International Agency for Research on Cancer has rated OT as a possible human carcinogen (category 2B). Although low levels of OTA can be detected using canonical high performance liquid chromatography or gas chromatography-mass spectrometry methodologies, the development of direct, reliable, rapid and highly sensitive methods for its determination is increasingly in demand and importance for public health.

What: The aim of this project is to realize a new-concept low-cost integrated device establishing a paradigm shift in ultrasensitive biosensing technology. We will devise an advanced photonic architecture where the excitation of high-Q resonances associated to bound states in the continuum (BICs) modes allow to exploit the synergy between two mechanisms, i.e., refractometric and surface-enhanced fluorescencebased sensing.

How: This proposal starts from the pioneering works conceived by the PI unit on BIC-enhanced light-matter interaction and sensing, published on high impact journals. It is aimed at exploring beyond the state of the art the enhancing coupling on the same device of refractometric sensing and surface-enhanced fluorescence based on BICs. This approach will represent a breakthrough for universal single-molecule sensing of low-weight analytes and will have a significant social-economic impact. The research activity will be carried out by a multidisciplinary team with complementary skills and joint experience in the development of biosensing systems for environmental and human health monitoring. Our architecture will be capable of detecting mycotoxins in food samples with a quantitative correlation between the analyte amount and the biosensor output signal. This challenging objective, made possible by our technology, will provide a highly sensitive and label free tool for the detection of mycotoxins through the entire food production chain up to the final product.

PI: Dr Ivo Rendina | CNR-ISASI

Scientific Coordinator: Dr. Silvia Romano | CNR-ISASI

Partnership: CNR-IBBR, University of Naples Federico II

Financed by: Projects MUR PRIN 2022, project code no. 2022TXWE32

Project overall budget: 200.000,00 €

CNR budget: 144.00,00 €

Duration: 28/09/2023 – 28/09/2025