Students create test kit to detect pesticides in food

In an era where food safety has become a major concern for society, a group of students from Yersin University in Dalat have turned their concerns into actions with a humane start-up project called “Test Kit - Identifying pesticides in food”.

The project Test Kit - Identifying pesticides in food (second from left) is in the top 30 of the 2025 Rural Youth Startup Project competition organized by the Central Youth Union.

From humanistic ideas

The project was carried out by To Quynh Trang, Dang Hoang Phuc and Le Thi My Linh - third-year students, majoring in Plant Biotechnology. After 4 months of hard work in the lab, the group has created a prototype product that helps consumers detect pesticide residues in food.

In the story of the origin of the idea, To Quynh Trang shared that, when watching news reports about food poisoning cases, the group could not help but feel sad when seeing many cases of eating food containing pesticide residues, especially children and women who were most severely affected. It was this feeling of remorse that urged them to find a way to do something useful for the community.

The three members of the group were classmates, sharing a passion for research and a desire to apply science to life. They decided to form a small group, studying and experimenting at the same time, with the hope of creating a product that helps people quickly and easily detect foods containing pesticides. “Vietnamese people grow and Vietnamese people eat, so if dirty food is not controlled, we will still be the ones who suffer,” Trang said.

After the research process, the group realized that most of the pesticide residue testing devices on the market require sending samples to the laboratory, which is time-consuming and expensive. From that reality, the idea of ​​a simple, cheap and convenient rapid test kit was formed so that anyone can test food at home. The project focuses on integrating knowledge of biotechnology, analytical chemistry and sensors to create a rapid testing product, giving results in just 10 - 30 minutes. The operating principle is based on a biochemical reaction that changes color, helping users easily recognize pesticide residues with the naked eye without the need for specialized equipment.

Highly applicable

The highlight of the kit is its ability to detect many common groups of pesticides on vegetables, fruits, rice and fresh food. Not only serving consumers, the product can also be applied in supermarkets, wholesale markets, production facilities or food quality management agencies. The group also focuses on the reasonable price factor so that the product can be mass-produced and reach more people. Currently, the group is in the stage of optimizing the reaction components, adjusting the sensitivity and testing on many different food samples to improve stability and accuracy.

Ms. Tran Thi Bao Tram - Lecturer of Biotechnology, Yersin University, Dalat, advisor of the group shared: Test kit - Identifying pesticides in food is a highly applicable research direction, meeting the current practical needs of food safety. The students have shown a serious and creative research spirit and have the ability to apply specialized knowledge well into practice. The product has initially proven its feasibility, development potential and can go further in rapid testing of pesticide residues.

From the positive records during the research process, the project "Test Kit - Identifying pesticides in food" quickly affirmed its vitality in the startup playground. In 2025, the excellent team won the Second Prize at the 8th Innovation and Creativity Startup Competition for Youth in Lam Dong Province and entered the Top 30 typical projects nationwide to enter the Final Round of the Rural Youth Startup Project Competition in 2025.

These results are not only a reward for the tireless research efforts, but also open up opportunities for the team to continue perfecting the product, finding partners and aiming for large-scale trial production. “We hope that the kit will be put into practical use, helping people to be more proactive in choosing clean food. That is how we students contribute a small part to building a healthier society,” Quynh Trang expressed.

Source: https://baolamdong.vn/sinh-vien-sang-tao-kit-test-nhan-biet-thuoc-bvtv-trong-thuc-pham-397432.html