Biomimetic sensors for dioxins detection in food samples

In this work, gold based quartz crystals were modified with synthetic oligopeptides, designed as biomimetic traps using computational approach, to obtain piezoelectric sensors selective to the dioxins. After the optimisation of the methodology using standard solutions, as a practical analytical application, three food matrices (poultry, eggs and milk) spiked at three different dioxin levels were analysed. The cross-reactivity of the system was also quantified spiking the samples with commercial polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and a mixture of PCBs and dioxins. The response of the sensors was not influenced by any of matrices tested either before or after the cleanup steps. The negligible matrix-effect could lead to a simplification of the extraction procedure. Basing on this screening method a rapid assignment of the samples to different degrees of toxicity could be possible reducing the use of high-resolution gas chromatography and high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRGC/HRMS).