Food industry wants faster tests to check products - Fraunhofer

07-Aug-2016 - Last updated on 08-Aug-2016 at 10:55 GMT

Picture: Fraunhofer IGB. Production of ImmuStick: Application of immune receptors onto test strip

A test to rapidly and cost-effectively identify bacteria, fungi or viruses in industries including food is being developed by Fraunhofer researchers.

The team at the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology (IGB) in Stuttgart said it has future applications such as detecting allergens and disease pathogens in blood.

The stick works like a pregnancy test. The ImmuStick is a test strip onto which drops of fluid are applied. If the fluid contains pyrogens, fragments of pathogens, this is shown by a colored strip in a viewing window.

The colour signal indicates pyrogens that have docked on the immune receptors are present.

Currently tests are costly and laborious as pyrogens can only be detected with laboratory equipment. A widely used standard test is the detection of LPS, a structure present in the membrane of certain bacteria. At present this test takes up around two hours.

“We were able to show that it works very well for the bacterial pyrogen LPS. Together with industrial partners, we now want to develop it into a product,” said project manager Dr Anke Burger-Kentischer. “We are currently testing further immune receptors that are specific for other pyrogens.”

The IGB researchers are seeking cooperation partners who want to further develop the ImmuStick to make it ready for market.