Recent Advances and Applications of Rapid Microbial Assessment from a Food Safety Perspective
, Anastasia E. Lytou 1, Anthoula A. Argyri 3, Efstathios Z. Panagou 1 and George-John E. Nychas 1,*Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
This paper presents a review on recent advances for the foodborn disease and food safety assessments, which includes detection techniques and data analysis approaches. The paper is well organized and written and includes a comparison of the most important techniques in terms of the type of microorganisms that can be detected, the goal and required data analysis, such as FFT, neural networks, Raman spectroscopy, etc.
In general, the paper could be considered as is for publication, but it could also be improved by enhancing the quality of Figure 1, in terms of aesthetics and way to convey the idea; and including more figures that can describe the discussion on the techniques.
Author Response
Response
The authors would like to thank the reviewer for his/her valuable comments.
Figure 1 was revised according to the reviewer’s comments. Please see L568-570
Figure 2 was included in the article as an example to describe all the steps followed for the food quality assessment using a sensor – from sample preparation to data acquisition, model development and finally to the ‘sensors’ response. In this case e-nose was set as an example, any other sensor can be used in a similar manner.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
Dear Authors,
The reviewed article Ms ID: sensors-1654664 (Recent advances and applications of rapid microbial assessment from a food safety perspective) is informative about the recent progress towards rapid microbial assessment through spectroscopic techniques; spectral imaging techniques; biosensors; sensors designed to mimic human senses and focuses on a topic in a way that has not been done before. Moreover the presented descriptive article of investigated field has value in terms of summarising the state of the literature.
The paper presents a review of literature that is relevant in the light of arguments used to support it. Research is very gripping as well as it also has its scientific value. I think the motivations for this study are very clear. The introduction provides a good, generalized background of the topic that quickly gives the reader an appreciation of the scientific relevance and timeliness of the research theme. Manuscript is well-written. The presented review article meets an important originality criterion.
However I have some suggestion for Authors to improve further their study. These follow the text sequence:
- Here are a current reference to consider, Authors can use them in the article:
- Tsougeni, G. Kaprou, C.M. Loukas, G. Papadakis, A. Hamiot, M. Eck, D. Rabus, G. Kokkoris, S. Chatzandroulis, V. Papadopoulos, B. Dupuy, G. Jobst, E. Gizeli, A. Tserepi, E. Gogolides, Lab-on-Chip platform and protocol for rapid foodborne pathogen detection comprising on-chip cell capture, lysis, DNA amplification and surface-acoustic-wave detection, Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical, Volume 320, 2020, 128345, ISSN 0925-4005, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.snb.2020.128345
From my standpoint, the presented manuscript is appropriate for publication Journal Sensors, after minor revision, given the above aspects.
Author Response
Response
The authors would like to thank the reviewer for his/her valuable comments.
The suggested reference was incorporated in the article according to the reviewer’s comment. Please see L 598-607
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
