Immunochemical methods are highly deployed in analytical laboratories worldwide for monitoring the incidence of mycotoxins in the food chain. Nevertheless, most conventional immunoassays for ochratoxin A (OTA), including commercial kits, show limitations to robustly determine this mycotoxin in grape-derived products below regulated levels (2 ng/mL). Herein, two rapid tests for sensitive OTA determination in wine and must were developed capitalizing on a collection of bioconjugates from innovative synthetic haptens and monoclonal antibodies with subnanomolar affinity. The ELISA (LOD = 8 pg/mL) showed excellent performance in recovery studies, and it was applied to survey commercial wines and musts for OTA contamination. Concerning LFIA, validation according to the Commission Regulation 519/2014 showed that samples exceeding 2 ng/mL were properly scored as uncompliant. More importantly, illegal samples provided a complete inhibition of the test signal, making this test an easy-to-use, rapid, and convenient screening method for in-house control of OTA in wineries.
Keywords: Competitive immunoassay; Dipstick; Food safety; Hapten; Monoclonal antibody; Mycotoxin.
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