It has been reported that wines, owing to specific environmental conditions, may contain toxic metabolites produced by moulds of the Aspergillus and Penicillium species colonising the vineyards and, due to the need of vineyard defence by parasitic species, can be contaminated by pesticides. Food safety regulations establish tight limits to such contaminant content (e.g. European Commission regulation n. 123/2005 for Ochratoxin A established an upper limit of 2µg/kg).
The system is composed by the following modules:
" An innovative integrated optic SPR () transducer." A proprietary microprocessor board that acquires and elaborates data from the SPR transducer through a 12-bit A/D converter and sends data to a laptop by a standard communication protocol (e.g. RS232, USB, WiFi, Ethernet)." A high-level software application, in order to obtain a "user-friendly" interface, able to both calculate and display output data, including the normalised so-called "SPR curve" and the "refractive index vs. time" curve." A microfluidic system to make the different analyses flowing on the transducer.
In the following picture a block scheme (right) of the whole system (except the microfluidic system) and a photo (left) of a proprietary interface are depicted.
The system is able to recognise the refractive index in the range 1.320 to 1.368, with 1*10-6 resolution. Moreover the system demonstrates an impressive 2.7*10-7 noise floor and an 8*10-7 signal resolution; this resolution is better than that available in other surface plasmon resonance instruments.
All these excellent performances are obtained in real time with a small, compact and economic electronic system; by a standard laptop, trough a user-friendly graphical interface, the required analysis result can be easily obtained by non-expert personnel.
The proponent has a specific biosensor laboratory where biological protocols for biosensors are developed and biosensor analysis are performed; also, its microelectronic laboratory and optical technologies laboratory are involved in both:
" Biosensor hardware design and realisation." Software development for system management and analysis performing.
Innovative Aspects:
The proposed system is an innovative one as it uses the SPR phenomenon and it is based on the present integrated optic technology; it's also well suited for on-field operation.
Other advantages of the system include: full portability; suitable for use by non-expert technicians; user-friendly interface; limited overall dimensions; low quantity of reagents needed; low cost; on the contrary traditional analysis systems are, usually: large-size, high-cost systems, and they need to be used by expert personnel.
The proposed system features make it very interesting for use either in research laboratories or in wine producing firms.
