Multi-target photothermal immunochromatography for simultaneous detection of three mycotoxins in foods

Qing Huang; Hanjie Yang; Wenlong Wang; Yi Zhang

doi:10.1016/j.aca.2023.341784

Multi-target photothermal immunochromatography for simultaneous detection of three mycotoxins in foods

Anal Chim Acta. 2023 Oct 23:1279:341784. doi: 10.1016/j.aca.2023.341784. Epub 2023 Sep 6.

Authors

Qing Huang¹, Hanjie Yang¹, Wenlong Wang¹, Yi Zhang²

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Resources, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214122, China; International Joint Laboratory on Food Safety, Institute of Analytical Food Safety, School of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214122, Jiangsu, China.
² State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Resources, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214122, China; International Joint Laboratory on Food Safety, Institute of Analytical Food Safety, School of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214122, Jiangsu, China. Electronic address: zhangyijnu@jiangnan.edu.cn.

PMID: 37827634
DOI: 10.1016/j.aca.2023.341784

Abstract

Background: Mycotoxin contaminated food poses a threat to human health. On-site detection of mycotoxin contamination is of significance to reduce the agricultural and food industries loss. Lateral flow immunochromatography (LFIC) as on-site detection method for mycotoxins has the advantages of low cost, easy to operate and short time-consuming. Of the various types of LFIC, photothermal LFIC possesses better sensitivity and stronger quantitative capability, but is unable to conduct synchronous multi-target analysis because that the laser can only activate one test area at a time. It was clear that a synchronous multi-target photothermal LFIC method was needed.

Results: In this study, a photothermal LFIC method for the simultaneous detection of three mycotoxins, deoxynivalenol (DON), aflatoxin B₁ (AFB₁) and zearalenone (ZEN), was developed. We broadened the laser source with a beam expander and realized the irradiation and activation of three test zones simultaneously. In addition, the competitive photothermal LFIC was constructed by using Cu_2-xSe-Au nanocomposites with excellent photothermal properties (η = 87.47%) as photothermal signal probes and thermal imager as photothermal signal collector. Under optimized experimental conditions, the limits of detection (LOD) were 73 ng L^-1, 45 ng L^-1 and 43 ng L^-1 for DON, AFB₁ and ZEN, respectively. The method had good linearity in three orders of magnitude and good specificity. The recoveries of the three mycotoxins in oat, cornmeal and millet samples ranged from 78.6% to 112.4%.

Significance: Compared with previous studies, this method improved the sensitivity, broadened the linear range of detection without large equipment and realized synchronous multi-target analysis for DON, AFB₁ and ZEN. We addressed a key limitation of photothermal LFIC by a simple way, facilitating the application of this technique in multi-target on-site detection in wider fields.

Keywords: Lateral flow immunochromatography; Multi-target; Mycotoxin; Photothermal.

MeSH terms

Aflatoxin B1 / analysis
Chromatography, Affinity
Food Contamination / analysis
Humans
Limit of Detection
Mycotoxins* / analysis
Zearalenone* / analysis

Substances

Mycotoxins
Zearalenone
Aflatoxin B1