ZnO-NWs/WS2-Thin Layer-Functionalized TST-Based WaveFlex Biosensor for Rapid Detection of Food Spoilage

Histamine, an organic nitrogen-containing compound, is produced by histidine under the action of a decarboxylase. Many tissues, especially the mast cells of the skin, lung, and intestinal mucosa, contain large amounts of histamine. Histamine poisoning occurs when histamine-metabolizing enzymes are damaged or submerged by dietary histamine. Based on the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) phenomenon, the taper-in-semi-taper (TST) optical fiber-based WaveFlex biosensor (plasmonic wave-based optical fiber sensor) is proposed. The TST fiber-based WaveFlex biosensor is designed and manufactured to detect the concentration of histamine in different foods such as fish and corn to determine food spoilage. Specifically, the gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) are first attached to the probe surface to effectively excite the LSPR phenomenon. Second, zinc oxide-nanowires (ZnO-NWs)/tungsten disulfide nanosheet (WS2-thin layer) are fixed on the sensing area to enhance the biocompatibility and finally functionalized with diamine oxidase (DAO) enzyme to increase the specificity of the probe. This experiment also tested the stability, reusability, reproducibility, pH, and selectivity of the biosensor and found that the biosensor has high sensitivity, good stability, and strong selectivity in the linear range of 0- 900~\mu M, which can meet the requirements of histamine content detection and for rapid detection of food spoilage.