Abstract
Ricin is a highly toxic protein present in the seeds of Ricinus communis (castor), grown principally as a source of high quality industrial lubricant and as an ornamental. Because ricin has been used for intentional poisoning in the past and could be used to contaminate food, there is a need for analytical methodology to detect ricin in food matrices. A monoclonal antibody-based method was developed for detecting and quantifying ricin in ground beef, a complex, fatty matrix. The limit of detection was 0.5 ng/g for the electrochemiluminescence (ECL) method and 1.5 ng/g for enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The detection of nanogram per gram quantities of ricin spiked into retail samples of ground beef provides approximately 10,000-fold greater sensitivity than required to detect a toxic dose of ricin (>1 mg) in a 100 g sample.
Highlights
The detection of naturally occurring toxins and the validation of test methods in food matrices are needed to protect consumers from both adventitious and intentional adulteration of foods
Ricin is a highly toxic protein found in the seeds of the castor plant, Ricinus communis, and consists of two chains of about 32 kDa, joined by a single disulfide bond
Immunochemical technology has been combined with the prodigious amplification potential of PCR to develop an exquisitely sensitive immuno-PCR assay for ricin [7]
Summary
The detection of naturally occurring toxins and the validation of test methods in food matrices are needed to protect consumers from both adventitious and intentional adulteration of foods. Toxins 2011, 3 maliciously in the past and has been found at a number of locations as a result of apparent criminal activity, e.g., [4]. For these reasons, it is important to have sensitive methods for detecting ricin and marker compounds associated with crude ricin preparations. Assays that measure compounds found in crude preparations of the toxin, such as castor DNA [17,18] and the alkaloid ricinine [19], offer additional means of detection and forensic attribution. Immunochemical technology has been combined with the prodigious amplification potential of PCR to develop an exquisitely sensitive immuno-PCR assay for ricin [7]
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