Progress towards mycotoxin sensor device

A wide variety of foods, beverages and feed are often contaminated with mycotoxins, which present a high risk to human and animal health. These mycotoxins are toxic substances produced by particular fungi that also can cause high crop losses.

Generally, the SMEs producing beverage and feed outsource mycotoxin detection expensive analysis to laboratories or companies with the proper expertise and equipment.

The EU-funded DEMOTOX project is further developing two mycotoxin sensor prototypes from other EU-funded research projects. This project will test the prototypes in preparation for the commercial market.

EU research centres that developed the initial prototypes have transferred the intellectual properties to the companies involved. Two of these companies have redesigned every aspect of the prototype devices.

DEMOTOX has established the protocols and benchmarks needed for industrial testing. The consortium also identified potential end users of the device, and recruited these companies to help validate the new prototypes.

Ten copies of each of these two prototypes have been manufactured. One works on a chemical identification system, while the other uses a bio-assay.

Beyond the practical aspects of the project, DEMOTOX is busy with a market analysis and an evaluation of potential competitors. Ultimately, this consortium hopes to bring a cheap and innovative mycotoxin sensor device to market in the EU.