A compact portable chemiluminescent biosensor for simple, rapid, and ultrasensitive on-site quantification of fumonisins (fumonisin B1+fumonisin B2) in maize has been developed. The biosensor integrates a competitive lateral flow immunoassay based on enzyme-catalyzed chemiluminescence detection and a highly sensitive portable charge-coupled device (CCD) camera, employed in a contact imaging configuration. The use of chemiluminescence detection allowed accurate and objective analyte quantification, rather than qualitative or semi-quantitative information usually obtained employing conventional lateral flow immunoassays based on colloidal gold labeling. A limit of detection of 2.5 μgL(-1) for fumonisins was achieved, with an analytical working range of 2.5-500 μgL(-1) (corresponding to 25-5000 μgkg(-1) in maize flour samples, according to the extraction procedure). Total assay time was 25 min, including sample preparation. A simple and convenient extraction procedure, performed by suspending the sample in a buffered solution and rapidly heating to eliminate endogenous peroxidase enzyme activity was employed for maize flour samples analysis, obtaining recoveries in the range 90-115%, when compared with LC-MS/MS analysis. The chemiluminescence immunochromatography-based biosensor is a rapid, low cost portable test suitable for point-of-use applications.
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