Abstract: The food safety problem concerns the national economy and people’s livelihood. Developing rapid detection technologies is of great significance to realize the food safety strategy. Sensors based on polydopamine or its composite nanomaterials have the advantages of good stability, low limit of detection and high sensitivity in food safety rapid detection. Furthermore, polydopamine and its composite nanomaterials can be synthesized through a simple and environmentally friendly process. Thanks to these merits, the application of polydopamine and its nanocomposites in the fields of food safety evaluation, environmental monitoring, and biological analysis attracts much attention from researchers. This paper reviews the design and application of optical and electrochemical sensors based on dopamine and its derivatives and points out their advantages. Finally, we conclude this review with a discussion on the problems concerning the application of dopamine and its derivatives in food safety rapid detection as well as an outlook on future prospects. This review is expected to provide reference for the promotion and application of new technologies for food safety rapid detection.

Key words: dopamine; derivatives; rapid detection; sensors; food safety