An Ochratoxin A test strip based on a lateral-flow immunochromatographic assay

Abstract

To develop an accurate and precise detection method to screen Ochratoxin A （OTA） contaminants for food safety concerns, a lateral-flow immunochromatographic assay for OTA detection was developed using colloidal nanoparticles, monoclonal OTA antibodies, and the OTA-BSA （bovine serum albumin） conjugate. The test strip was treated with PBS for negative control and OTA standard samples （ranging from 1 to 10 gL－1） for measurement, and 4 replications. Results over the entire growth period showed that （1） the optimized concentration of OTA-BSA was 4.8 gL－1 and goat-anti mouse （IgG） concentration was 1.5 gL－1. The suitable coating volume of OTA-BSA and IgG in Nitrocellulose （NC） membranes was 1.0 Lcm－1 with （2） a sensitivity for this test strip of 1.0 gL－1. The entire detection procedure for OTA was completed within 5 min. This test strip provided advantages of easy carrying, high sensitivity, and specificity, thereby serving as a suitable and valuable screening tool for field and clinical detection compared to traditional equipment and to the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA）-based method. ［Ch, 5 fig. 1 tab. 12 ref.］