Italian firms target milk quality with device based on biosensors

It will be used at the first step of the collection logistics chain (farm) for analysis of six target analytes: five different antibiotics in milk including Beta-lactam, Quinolones, Tetracycline, Sulphonamide, Aminoglycoside plus aflatoxins.

The system may also be used at the delivery point of trucks collecting milk providing results in 10 minutes and avoiding the need for lab confirmation tests in the case of positive results.

I-Cuvette will be developed by ISS BioSense (ISS) a high-tech SME which manipulates molecules of biological origin to develop specific and sensitive sensors and Kontor46 (K46), a firm specialized in hardware and software developments, as well as R&D services for industry.

The Horizon 2020 project runs until the end of March this year and received €50,000.

The firms said milk contamination can happen at any stage of the production chain from the farm to the shelf.

They added conventional methods of analysis allow a thorough analysis with very sensitive Limits of Detection but require specialized staff, are time-consuming and expensive and need to be done in a lab.

ISS and K46 said I-Cuvette combines analytical quality with short response time and cost similar to strips or other disposable fast tests.

Analytical performance is better than conventional methods thanks to biosensors with greater operational potential due to sensitivity, selectivity, reliability, portability, no sample pre-treatment, short time to results and low cost, they added.