Development of a Point-of-Care Platform for Plant Health Assessment: A Microfluidic Approach
Eduardo J. S. Brás,
Ana Margarida Fortes,
Virginia Chu,
Pedro Fernandes,
João Pedro Conde
Affiliations
Eduardo J. S. Brás
Instituto de Engenharia de Sistemas e Computadores, Microsistemas e Nanotecnologias (INESC MN) and IN, Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, 1000-029 Lisbon, Portugal
Ana Margarida Fortes
Faculdade de Ciências de Lisboa, Universidade de Lisboa, BioISI, Campo Grande, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal
Virginia Chu
Instituto de Engenharia de Sistemas e Computadores, Microsistemas e Nanotecnologias (INESC MN) and IN, Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, 1000-029 Lisbon, Portugal
Pedro Fernandes
IBB—Institute for Bioengineering and Biosciences, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, 1049-001 Lisbon, Portugal
João Pedro Conde
Instituto de Engenharia de Sistemas e Computadores, Microsistemas e Nanotecnologias (INESC MN) and IN, Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, 1000-029 Lisbon, Portugal
Azelaic Acid (AzA) is a signaling molecule that plays a role in plant immune response when these are infected with pathogens, such as Botryitis cinerea, making its early detection in the field critical in the monitoring and prevention of large spread infection in crops. In this work, a microfluidic platform for the rapid detection of AzA in grapes is presented. AzA detection is achieved via an enzyme-enabled colorimetric reaction performed in a microfluidic chip coupled to a thin-film silicon photodiode. The detection of nM concentrations of AzA in buffer was achieved and initial results for AzA measurements in artificially spiked grape juice show potential for detection in realistic sample conditions.
