ReviewMikrochimica acta2026
Smartphone-based optical and spectroscopic sensors for food safety monitoring: principles, applications, and future directions.
Review in Mikrochimica acta, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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0 citing papers in PubMed.
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Food safety monitoring increasingly requires analytical tools that are rapid, portable, and accessible beyond centralized laboratories. In this context, smartphone-based optical and spectroscopic sensors have emerged as highly promising platforms because they combine image acquisition, signal processing, data transmission, and user-friendly interfaces within a compact and widely available device. This review critically summarizes recent advances in smartphone-enabled food safety sensing, with emphasis on the underlying optical principles, hardware integration strategies, analytical workflows, and application scenarios. We discuss the major sensing modalities currently adapted to smartphone platforms, including colorimetric, fluorescence, chemiluminescence, and Raman/surface-enhanced Raman scattering approaches, and examine how camera modules, illumination control, add-on optics, 3D-printed attachments, and app-based processing pipelines influence analytical performance. Recent applications are organized by target class, covering pesticide residues, heavy metals, mycotoxins, adulterants, microbial pathogens, and spoilage-related markers. Across these categories, smartphone-assisted systems have demonstrated strong potential for decentralized screening, field deployment, and point-of-need decision support. However, the transition from laboratory demonstrations to practical deployment remains constrained by unresolved issues related to analytical standardization, validation under realistic food conditions, and integration of smartphone hardware with reliable data-processing workflows. Emerging trends indicate that future progress will be driven by artificial intelligence-assisted analysis, multimodal sensing, sustainable substrates, smart packaging integration, and connectivity with cloud- and traceability-based digital food systems. Overall, smartphone-based optical and spectroscopic sensors are evolving from low-cost imaging tools into increasingly sophisticated analytical platforms with the potential to bridge laboratory-grade detection and real-world food safety surveillance.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.