Biosensors and biomeasurement
Science programme: Biosensors & biomeasurement
We have extensive specialist knowledge of enzymatic sensors, immunosensors, imprinted polymer and optical sensors and biophysical sensors and their applications.
Increasingly this capability is being applied to our food programmes.
With their pear ripeness indicator now marketed worldwide as ripeSense™ , our Biosensor and Biomeasurement scientists are now examining new methods of both ripening control and ripeness indication for fresh fruit in the Active and Intelligent Packaging Project.
This work is complimented by the Rapid Immunosensor project and supported by a raft of new technologies, each with the potential to become another ripeSense™. Rapid Immunosensor scientists aim to enhance conventional immunoassay techniques, using our patented linker and labelling enhancements to provide unprecedented sensitivity and speed of detection. These technologies are finding immediate applications across HortResearch.
Agricultural biosensors will enhance NZ’s leading edge on-farm automation and information systems. One key application is in the cattle breeding industry, where the successful prediction of fertility cycles leads to considerable cost saving in herd management. A real-time milk progesterone biosensor is being developed by the scientists of the Rapid Immunosensor team.
In order to detect disease-causing organisms in food, biosensors for plant pathogens are being developed. Food safety devices include a sensor to predict storage rots in avocado.
The development of biosensors for pesticides is meeting a growing demand for rapid, simple, selective and low-cost detection techniques to be deployed early in the food value chain, such as fruit packhouses. HortResearch has identified 3 fungicides that occur in such an environment that can be detected by a biosensor.
Similarly, toxin production can occur at any stage of plant growth, harvesting, drying, processing and storage, that if inhaled or ingested, can lead to serious medical conditions. HortResearch is working with a leading German research institute on detecting key toxins in fruit juices and fermented beverages.
As well as the selective binding mechanism of antibodies, scientists in the Biosensors and Biomeasurement team also have broad capability in the construction of molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs), which are sometimes described as ‘plastic antibodies’. MIPs are special plastics which bind specifically to particular molecules. HortResearch has patents on a MIP for phenols, and has developed a range of unique MIP technologies for selective binding of small molecules.
Some of the application areas include:
- Sensors for fruit ripening
- Flavour sensing
- Analyte-specific sensors
- Immunoassay (non-invasive measurement of biological material).
- On-line sensing of progesterone in milk on the dairy farm (for the successful prediction of fertility cycles)
- Detection of plant disease
Key links:
Contact Peter Schaare
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