Novel Immunosensor Based on Metal Single-Atom Nanozymes with Enhanced Oxidase-Like Activity for Capsaicin Analysis in Spicy Food

Capsaicin (CAP) is a primary indicator for assessing the level of pungency. Herein, iron-based single-atom nanozymes (SAzymes) (Fe/NC) with exceptional oxidase-like activity were used to construct an immunosensor for CAP analysis. Fe/NC could imitate oxidase actions by transforming O-2 to O-center dot(2)- radicals in the absence of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), which could avoid complex operations and unstable results. By regulating the Fe atom loads, an optimal Fe-0.7/NC atom usage rate could improve the catalytic activity (Michaelis-Menten constant (K-m) = 0.09 mM). Fe-0.7/NC was integrated with goat antimouse IgG by facile mix incubation to develop a competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Our Fe-0.7/NC immunosensing platform is anticipated to outperform the conventional ELISA in terms of stability and shelf life. The proposed immunosensor provided color responses across 0.01-1000 ng/mL CAP concentrations, with a detection limit of 0.046 ng/mL. Fe/NC may have potential as nanozymes for CAP detection in spicy foods, with promising applications in food biosensing.