Citation: Zambry, N.S.;
Ahmad Najib, M.; Awang, M.S.;
Selvam, K.; Khalid, M.F.; Bustami, Y.;
Hamzah, H.H.; Ozsoz, M.;
Abd Manaf, A.; Aziah, I.
Aptamer-Based Electrochemical
Biosensors for the Detection of
Salmonella: A Scoping Review.
Diagnostics 2022, 12, 3186.
https://doi.org/10.3390/
diagnostics12123186
Academic Editor: Mamun Bin
Ibne Reaz
Received: 5 October 2022
Accepted: 14 December 2022
Published: 16 December 2022
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral
with regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional affil-
iations.
Copyright: © 2022 by the authors.
Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
This article is an open access article
distributed under the terms and
conditions of the Creative Commons
Attribution (CC BY) license (https://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/
4.0/).
diagnostics
Review
Aptamer-Based Electrochemical Biosensors for the Detection of
Salmonella: A Scoping Review
Nor Syafirah Zambry
1
, Mohamad Ahmad Najib
1
, Mohd Syafiq Awang
2
, Kasturi Selvam
1
,
Muhammad Fazli Khalid
1
, Yazmin Bustami
3
, Hairul Hisham Hamzah
4
, Mehmet Ozsoz
1,5
,
Asrulnizam Abd Manaf
2,
* and Ismail Aziah
1,
*
1
Institute for Research in Molecular Medicine (INFORMM), Health Campus, Universiti Sains Malaysia,
Kubang Kerian 16150, Kelantan, Malaysia
2
Collaborative Microelectronic Design Excellence Centre (CEDEC), Sains@USM, Level 1, Block C,
No. 10 Persiaran Bukit Jambul, Bayan Lepas 11900, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
3
School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, George Town 11800, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
4
School of Chemical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, George Town 11800, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
5
Department of Biomedical Engineering, Near East University, Nicosia 99138, Turkey
* Correspondence: eeasrulnizam@usm.my (A.A.M.); aziahismail@usm.my (I.A.)
Abstract: The development of rapid, accurate, and efficient detection methods for Salmonella can
significantly control the outbreak of salmonellosis that threatens global public health. Despite the high
sensitivity and specificity of the microbiological, nucleic-acid, and immunological-based methods,
they are impractical for detecting samples outside of the laboratory due to the requirement for skilled
individuals and sophisticated bench-top equipment. Ideally, an electrochemical biosensor could
overcome the limitations of these detection methods since it offers simplicity for the detection process,
on-site quantitative analysis, rapid detection time, high sensitivity, and portability. The present
scoping review aims to assess the current trends in electrochemical aptasensors to detect and quantify
Salmonella. This review was conducted according to the latest Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic
review and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines. A literature
search was performed using aptamer and Salmonella keywords in three databases: PubMed, Scopus,
and Springer. Studies on electrochemical aptasensors for detecting Salmonella published between
January 2014 and January 2022 were retrieved. Of the 787 studies recorded in the search, 29 studies
were screened for eligibility, and 15 studies that met the inclusion criteria were retrieved for this review.
Information on the Salmonella serovars, targets, samples, sensor specification, platform technologies
for fabrication, electrochemical detection methods, limit of detection (LoD), and detection time was
discussed to evaluate the effectiveness and limitations of the developed electrochemical aptasensor
platform for the detection of Salmonella. The reported electrochemical aptasensors were mainly
developed to detect Salmonella enterica Typhimurium in chicken meat samples. Most of the developed
electrochemical aptasensors were fabricated using conventional electrodes (13 studies) rather than
screen-printed electrodes (SPEs) (two studies). The developed aptasensors showed LoD ranges from
550 CFU/mL to as low as 1 CFU/mL within 5 min to 240 min of detection time. The promising
detection performance of the electrochemical aptasensor highlights its potential as an excellent
alternative to the existing detection methods. Nonetheless, more research is required to determine the
sensitivity and specificity of the electrochemical sensing platform for Salmonella detection, particularly
in human clinical samples, to enable their future use in clinical practice.
Keywords: Salmonella; foodborne disease; electrochemical aptasensor; detection; scoping review
1. Introduction
Salmonella is a significant pathogenic bacteria that causes major foodborne disease in
humans and animals, called salmonellosis [1–3]. The Salmonella genus is classified into
Diagnostics 2022, 12, 3186. https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics12123186 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/diagnostics