Gold nanoparticles-based lateral flow assay for on-site detecting adulteration in animal-derived food

Adulterated food safety incidents occur frequently due to similarities between different species, causing damage to the health and legal rights of consumers and resulting in serious economic losses. On-site monitoring of animal-derived food adulteration is crucial to ensure food safety. Traditional adulteration detection methods are time-consuming and cannot achieve on-site detection. The lateral flow assay (LFA) is a field detection method that allows for quick detection, simple production, high selectivity and sensitivity, as well as being visible to the naked eye. It also has a wide range of potential applications in detecting animal-derived food adulteration. This work provides a thorough review of the LFA sensing technique that utilizes gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) to detect various target compounds, including nucleic acids and proteins, for identifying adulteration of animal-derived food in field. This article is crucial for developing fast detection techniques to identify adulterated food derived from animals and protecting consumer interests.