Available online at www.sciencedirect.com Biosensors and Bioelectronics 23 (2008) 1577–1587 Review Immunosensors for detection of pesticide residues Xuesong Jiang a , Dongyang Li a , Xia Xu a , Yibin Ying a,∗ , Yanbin Li b , Zunzhong Ye a , Jianping Wang a a College of Biosystems Engineering and Food Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310029, PR China b Department of Biological & Agricultural Engineering, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701, USA Received 9 September 2007; received in revised form 15 January 2008; accepted 29 January 2008 Available online 13 February 2008 Abstract Immunosensors are biosensors that use antibodies or antigens as the specific sensing element and provide concentration-dependent signals. There is great potential in the applications of immunosensing technologies for rapid detection of pesticide residues in food and environment. This paper presents an overview of various transduction systems, such as electrochemical, optical, piezoelectric, and nanomechanics methods, which have been reported in the literature in the design and fabrication of immunosensors for pesticide detection. Various immobilization protocols used for formation of a biorecognition interface are also discussed. In addition, techniques of regeneration, signal amplification, miniaturization, and antibodies are evaluated for the development and applications of these immunosensors. It can be concluded that despite some limitations of the immunosensing technologies, these immuosensors for pesticide monitoring are becoming more and more relevant in environmental and food analysis. © 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Immunosensor; Pesticide residues; Electrochemical; Optical; Piezoelectric Contents 1. Introduction ........................................................................................................... 1578 2. Classification of immunosensors ......................................................................................... 1578 2.1. Labeled formats ................................................................................................. 1578 2.2. Label-free formats ............................................................................................... 1579 3. Transducers of immunosensors for pesticide detection ..................................................................... 1579 3.1. Electrochemical immunosensors .................................................................................. 1579 3.1.1. Potentiometric methods .................................................................................. 1580 3.1.2. Amperometric methods ................................................................................... 1580 3.1.3. Capacitance/conductance/impedance methods .............................................................. 1581 3.2. Optical immunosensors ........................................................................................... 1581 3.2.1. Reflectometric interference spectroscopy .................................................................. 1581 3.2.2. Interferometry ........................................................................................... 1582 3.2.3. Optical waveguide lightmode spectroscopy ................................................................ 1582 3.2.4. Total internal reflection fluorescence ...................................................................... 1582 3.2.5. Surface plasmon resonance ............................................................................... 1582 3.2.6. Fluorescence/luminescence ............................................................................... 1583 3.3. Piezoelectric immunosensors ...................................................................................... 1583 3.4. Nanomechanics immunosensors ................................................................................... 1584 4. Immobilization protocols ............................................................................................... 1584 ∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +86 571 86971885; fax: +86 571 86971885. E-mail address: ybying@zju.edu.cn (Y. Ying). 0956-5663/$ – see front matter © 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.bios.2008.01.035