New Trends in Biosensor Development for Pesticide Detection

Increased use of pesticides globally has led to harmful consequences on the environment, livestock, animals, as well as humans. Hence, its detection in animal feed, vegetables, agricultural crops, milk, eggs, and meat has become a pre-requisite. Conventional techniques such as High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), Gas Chromatography (GC), Fourier transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Mass Spectrometry (MS), Spectrophotometry, Polarography, etc., are generally being used in detection of pesticides. Alternatively, biosensors can be employed which are cost-effective and an easy way to detect pesticides. Biosensors can be differentiated based upon its biorecognition elements ranging from antibodies to cells. This chapter gives an overview of recent advances in biosensor development for the detection of pesticides with major emphasis on electrochemical biosensors.