A Low-Cost and High Sensitive Paper-Based Microfluidic Device for Rapid Detection of Glucose in Fruit

The concentration of glucose in fruit is a key index for fruit quality. Despite the fact that there are many methods to detect glucose, finding a rapid, visual, and inexpensive method to detect glucose in fruit is still a great challenge. In this study, the concept of paper-based microfluidic device (μPAD) was extended to high-performance chemo-sensors for semi-quantitative detection of glucose in different kinds of fruit. Under optimized conditions, the results showed that the method detected glucose of different concentrations and the limit of detection (LOD) can reach 3.12 mM. In the quantifications, a good linear relationship was obtained between mean intensity and glucose concentration (5∼50 mM, R2 = 0.952). The analytical results obtained by the developed approach were in good agreement with the results by spectrophotometric method. In addition, polyethylene glycol (PEG) was added to cellulose paper surface to improve the both hydrophilic and sensing performance, indicating that the PEG-cellulose paper was superior for its rapid response for glucose. Herein, a low-cost and high sensitive μPAD sensor was exploited to assess the fruit quality and guide fruit intake for diabetes mellitus patients.