• HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
Sunday, October 26, 2025
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News Chemistry

Biodegradable sensor monitors levels of pesticides via direct contact with surface of fruit and vegetables

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
February 2, 2024
in Chemistry
Reading Time: 4 mins read
0
Biodegradable sensor monitors levels of pesticides via direct contact with surface of fruit and vegetables
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram

Researchers at the University of São Paulo (USP) and the Federal University of Viçosa (UFV) in Brazil have developed a sustainable sensor that can be placed directly on the surface of a vegetable or fruit to detect the presence of pesticides. Known for this reason as “plant-wearable”, it is made of cellulose acetate, a material derived from wood pulp.

Biodegradable sensor monitors levels of pesticides via direct contact with surface of fruit and vegetables

Credit: Paulo Augusto Raymundo Pereira

Researchers at the University of São Paulo (USP) and the Federal University of Viçosa (UFV) in Brazil have developed a sustainable sensor that can be placed directly on the surface of a vegetable or fruit to detect the presence of pesticides. Known for this reason as “plant-wearable”, it is made of cellulose acetate, a material derived from wood pulp.

The device has the potential to help assure food safety in a world that increasingly suffers from a shortage of food and the environmental and health problems caused by excessive use of agrochemicals. 

An article describing the results of the study is published in the journal Biomaterials Advances.

Pesticides are widely used to raise crop yields and are typically applied by spraying, but only 50% reach their target. The rest ends up in soil, groundwater, surface water, raw drinking water, wastewater and food products. Monitoring of pesticide levels in water, soil and food is therefore essential to prevent contact between these toxic substances and the public via the skin, lungs or digestive system.

The analytical tools most often used for this purpose are chromatographic techniques, which are effective but have drawbacks such as the need for pretreatment of samples, expensive equipment and qualified laboratory specialists, as well as the long time taken to complete the analysis and lack of portability. The unsafe residues produced by organic solvents are also a significant problem under present-day conditions.

“As an alternative, electrochemical sensors can combine affordability, rapid detection, miniaturization, large-scale production, convenience, ease of use, high selectivity and in situ pesticide detection. Our invention has all these features. The analysis is performed directly on the surface of fruit, vegetables or leaves. Hence the term plant-wearable,” said Paulo Augusto Raymundo-Pereira, last author of the article and a researcher at the São Carlos Physics Institute (IFSC-USP).

“However, instead of the usual materials, which are environmentally unsustainable and take a long time to degrade, such as ceramics or plastic polymers derived from petroleum, we used cellulose acetate, a material derived from plants that has little impact on the environment and disintegrates completely in 340 days or less depending on local conditions. Of course, it has to have appropriate characteristics for any sensor, including low cost, portability and flexibility.”

The biodegradable cellulose acetate substrate was produced by a casting method in which the material was placed in a space with the required shape, and the full electrochemical system with three electrodes was deposited by screen printing.

The researchers carried out laboratory tests in which a solution containing carbendazim, a fungicide, and paraquat, a herbicide, was sprayed on lettuce and tomatoes in a simulation of real-world use. Paraquat was banned by the European Union in 2003 owing to its harmful effects on humans but is still used in Brazil. The sensor was then directly attached to the lettuce and tomatoes, and measurements showed a level of detection compatible with those obtained with polyethylene terephthalate, the sensor material most frequently used for this purpose.

Excessive pesticide levels

The study, which was funded by FAPESP (projects 20/09587-8, 23/07686-7, 16/01919-6, 22/02164-0 and 23/09685-8) also investigated whether washing and immersing vegetables in a liter of water for two hours was effective to remove pesticide residues. The results showed removal of 40% of the carbendazim and 60% of the paraquat from lettuce, and 64% of both from tomatoes.

“Washing and immersion were clearly insufficient to remove residues of the pesticides. At least 10% remained in the leaves or peel,” Raymundo-Pereira said.

The technology can be useful for sanitary surveillance agencies worldwide, he added, as well as sellers of organic produce to certify absence of pesticides. Farmers generally can use it to monitor levels of pesticides in the field and be sure of applying only the requisite dose to each crop or part of a plantation. Pesticide use could decrease as a result, while yields will still rise, leading to lower consumer prices.

Besides the IFSC-USP team, the following researchers also took part in the study: Samiris C. Teixeira, Nilda de F. F. Soares and Taíla V. de Oliveira at UFV; and Nathalia O. Gomes, Marcelo L. Calegaro and Sergio A. S. Machado at the São Carlos Chemistry Institute (IQSC-USP).

About São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP)

The São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) is a public institution with the mission of supporting scientific research in all fields of knowledge by awarding scholarships, fellowships and grants to investigators linked with higher education and research institutions in the State of São Paulo, Brazil. FAPESP is aware that the very best research can only be done by working with the best researchers internationally. Therefore, it has established partnerships with funding agencies, higher education, private companies, and research organizations in other countries known for the quality of their research and has been encouraging scientists funded by its grants to further develop their international collaboration. You can learn more about FAPESP at www.fapesp.br/en and visit FAPESP news agency at www.agencia.fapesp.br/en to keep updated with the latest scientific breakthroughs FAPESP helps achieve through its many programs, awards and research centers. You may also subscribe to FAPESP news agency at http://agencia.fapesp.br/subscribe.



Journal

Biomaterials Advances

DOI

10.1016/j.bioadv.2023.213676

Article Title

Sustainable plant-wearable sensors for on-site, rapid decentralized detection of pesticides toward precision agriculture and food safety

Article Publication Date

8-Nov-2023

Share12Tweet8Share2ShareShareShare2

Related Posts

blank

Bezos Earth Fund Awards $2M to UC Davis and American Heart Association to Pioneer AI-Designed Foods

October 24, 2025
Organocatalytic Intramolecular Macrocyclization of Quinone Methylidenes with Alcohols Achieves Enantio-, Atropo-, and Diastereoselectivity

Organocatalytic Intramolecular Macrocyclization of Quinone Methylidenes with Alcohols Achieves Enantio-, Atropo-, and Diastereoselectivity

October 24, 2025

Breakthrough Discovery of Elusive Solar Waves That May Energize the Sun’s Corona

October 24, 2025

From Wastewater to Fertile Ground: Chinese Researchers Achieve Dual Breakthroughs in Phosphorus Recycling

October 23, 2025

POPULAR NEWS

  • Sperm MicroRNAs: Crucial Mediators of Paternal Exercise Capacity Transmission

    1283 shares
    Share 512 Tweet 320
  • Stinkbug Leg Organ Hosts Symbiotic Fungi That Protect Eggs from Parasitic Wasps

    310 shares
    Share 124 Tweet 78
  • ESMO 2025: mRNA COVID Vaccines Enhance Efficacy of Cancer Immunotherapy

    195 shares
    Share 78 Tweet 49
  • New Study Suggests ALS and MS May Stem from Common Environmental Factor

    134 shares
    Share 54 Tweet 34

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Recent News

Overcoming COVID-19: Nursing Home Staff Resilience

Exploring TIFY Family Genes in Panax Notoginseng

Maternal Diabetes: Impact on Mental Health and Infants

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Success! An email was just sent to confirm your subscription. Please find the email now and click 'Confirm' to start subscribing.

Join 67 other subscribers
  • Contact Us

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.