Nanozymes-Mediated Lateral Flow Assays for the Detection of Pathogenic Microorganisms and Toxins: A Review from Synthesis to Application

In today’s context, there is an increasing awareness among individuals regarding the importance of healthy and safe food consumption. Consequently, there is a growing demand for food products that are safeguarded against the detrimental effects of pathogens and harmful microbial metabolites. Actually, these organisms and their associated toxins pose a significant risk to food safety and are recognized as a critical threat to human health because of their capacity to induce foodborne infections and intoxications. Consequently, in order to address such challenges, it is imperative to enhance recognizing systems comprising bio/nanosensors for detections, which are trustworthy, quick, beneficial and economical. The advent of digital color imaging technology has led to the gradual establishment of lateral flow assays (LFAs) as one of the most significant sensors for point-of-care applications. Unlike colloidal gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), nanozymes offer enhanced color intensity through target-induced precise enrichment of nanozymes at the test line. Additionally, they amplify the color signal by facilitating the catalytic oxidation of colorless substrates into colored products. This dual functionality presents significant potential for the development of well-organized LFAs. In light of this, significant attempts are dedicated to the development of nanozyme-based LFAs. This review aims to outline recent advancements in the synthesis and design of nanozymes with varying compositions that exhibit distinct activities, as well as the structure and employment of nanozyme-based LFAs for the detection of pathogenic microorganisms and their associated toxins. Furthermore, the existing challenges and prospective development directions are outlined to assist readers in advancing the nanozyme-based LFAs performance.