Table 1.

Application of biosensor-based microfluidic technology for the detection of foodborne pathogenic bacteria

Biosensor type	Receptor	Target pathogen	Advantages	Disadvantages	Improvement measures	Limit of detection
Colorimetric biosensor	Enzyme	Cronobacter spp.	Simple, fast, low-cost, and visual detection	Low sensitivity, low multiplexing capacity, and quantitative detection limitation	Enrichment of bacterial cells by magnetic beads; replacement of colloidal gold by quantum dots; use of chemiluminescence (CL) substrates and porous substrates	10 CFU/cm2 [26]
	Enzyme	Escherichia coli (E. coli) O157: H7, Salmonella typhimurium (S. Typhimurium), Listeria monocytogenes (L. monocytogenes)				10 CFU/cm2 [27]
Fluorescence biosensor	Quantum dots (QDs)	S. typhimurium	High sensitivity, high speed, and non-contact detection	Weak fluorescence signal, large interference background, and the detection device is highly required	Use of new fluorescent materials such as metal nanoclusters, carbon dots, QDs, graphene, combined with immunomagnetic separation	3.3 × 102 CFU/mL [28]
	Antibody	Salmonella enterica (S. enterica)				5.0 × 104 cells /mL[29]
CL biosensor	Antibody	E. coli, Enterobacter jejuni (E. jejuni)	Convenient and fast, high sensitivity, low detection limit, convenient automation, and excellent selectivity	The labeling process is tedious, complex, and difficult to automate	Nanotechnology is modified on the surface of the electrode; CL reagents are immobilized	5.0 × 105 cells/mL; 1.0 × 105 cells/mL[30]
	Antibody	E. coli				Single-cell level [31]
SPR biosensor	Antibody	E. coli and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus)	Specificity, multiplexing, and unlabeled	The detection of intact bacterial cells is limited and complex	Optimizes the attenuation length; use long-distance SPR; surface to prepare nanostructures	105 CFU/mL[32]
SERS biosensor	Unlabeled	S. aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa), E. coli	High sensitivity, multiplexing, and unlabeled	Poor stability and molecular difficulty in molecular fingerprint spectroscopy	Use of stable substrate; synthesis of controllable nanoparticles; use of pathogen database	3.0 × 103 CFU/mL, 5.0 × 103 CFU/mL, 1.0 × 104 CFU/mL [33]
Electrochemical biosensors	Antibody	Salmonella	Low resistance, high signal-to-noise ratio, good stability, fast response and high sensitivity	Easy to be disturbed by other ions in the solution and high requirements for the reaction system	Select bio-recognition elements with high specificity; broadens the types of electrode modification materials; improves the surface microstructure of electrodes; uses composite materials and nanomaterials; expands the development of other diverse technologies such as fusion medium electrophoresis and electroporation	300 cells/mL [34]
	Antibody	S. typhimurium				3.0 × 103 CFU/mL [35]