Multiplex Dipstick Technologies for Rapid and Simultaneous Screening of Analytes of Importance in Agri-Food-Nutrition and Health Care: A Review.

Dipstick test kits are being widely used for the rapid screening of a range of antigens or toxins in food, agriculture, and health care. They provide specific results on-site within 10 min with suitable accuracy and are, therefore, cost-effective. Multiplex dipsticks also provide the opportunity for simultaneous detection of multiple antigens in the target sample without using expensive instrumentation, minimizing the cost of analysis as well as the duration of assay. Because of these benefits, dipstick kits are widely being used in the simultaneous detection of several antigens/toxins in large number of samples and in high-throughput manner. This review focuses on the current status of developed multiplex strips and its working principles and future direction of the technology in the agriculture, food, nutrition, and health care sectors.