A Sensitive Aptasensor Using Biotin-Streptavidin System for Patulin Detection in Apple Juice.

Patulin contamination in fruits, vegetables, and their products is considered a serious health risk factor for food safety and human health. Thus, a rapid, simple detection method for patulin is becoming important, which could provide a tool for routine screening and food surveys. The objective of this study was to develop a sensitive aptamer-based lateral flow assay (FLA) using Streptavidin functionalized gold nanoparticles for sensitive patulin detection. An excellent dynamic range for patulin detection was obtained (2.7~139.8 ng/mL in the buffer and 7.07~359.5 ng/mL in the sample) with no affinity for other mycotoxins such as zearalenone (ZEN), ochratoxin A (OTA), aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), citrinin or tenuazonic acid (TEA). The limit of detection was 0.19 ng/mL in the buffer and 0.36 ng/mL in the real sample. The recoveries were 83.3% to 107.1%, with a satisfactory RSD value from 6.5% to 7.5%. Hence the established LFA could be used as a rapid, simple, on-site screening tool for PAT determination in apple juice.

Immunomagnetic separation of Salmonella with tailored magnetic micro and nanocarriers. A comparative study.

This paper addresses a comparative study of immunomagnetic separation of Salmonella using micro and nano-sized magnetic carriers. In this approach, nano (300 nm) and micro (2.8 µm) sized magnetic particles were modified with anti-Salmonella antibody to pre-concentrate the bacteria from the samples throughout an immunological reaction. The performance of the immunomagnetic separation on the different magnetic carriers was evaluated using classical culturing, confocal and scanning electron microscopy to study the binding pattern, as well as a magneto-actuated immunosensor with electrochemical read-out for the rapid detection of the bacteria in spiked milk samples. In this approach, a second polyclonal antibody labeled with peroxidase as electrochemical reporter was used. The magneto-actuated electrochemical immunosensor was able to clearly distinguish between food pathogenic bacteria such as Salmonella enterica and Escherichia coli, showing a limit of detection (LOD) as low as 538 CFU mL(-1) and 291 CFU mL(-1) for magnetic micro and nanocarriers, respectively, in whole milk, although magnetic nanoparticles showed a noticeable higher matrix effect and higher agglomeration effect. These LODs were achieved in a total assay time of 1h without any previous culturing pre-enrichment step. If the samples were pre-enriched for 8 h, the magneto immunosensor based on the magnetic nanoparticles was able to detect as low as 1 CFU in 25 mL of milk (0.04 CFU mL(-1)).

Electrochemical magneto immunosensor for the detection of anti-TG2 antibody in celiac disease.

An electrochemical magneto immunosensor for the detection of anti-transglutaminase antibodies (ATG2) in celiac disease was developed. The immunological reaction is performed on magnetic beads (MBs) as a solid support in which the transglutaminase enzyme (TG2) is covalently immobilized (TG2-MB) and then ATG2 were revealed by an antibody labeled with peroxidase. The electrochemical response of the enzymatic reaction with o-phenilendiamine and H2O2 as substrates by square wave voltammetry was correlated with the ATG2. Graphite-epoxi composite cylindrical electrodes and screen printed electrodes were used as transducers in the immunosensor. A total number of 29 sera from clinically confirmed cases of celiac disease and 19 negative control sera were tested by the electrochemical magneto immunosensor. The data were submitted to the receiver-operating characteristic plot (ROC) analysis which indicated that 16.95 units was the most effective cut-off value (COV) to discriminate correctly between celiac and non-celiac patients. Using this point for prediction, sensitivity was found to be 100%, while specificity was 84%.