Rapid and simultaneous purification of aflatoxin B1, zearalenone and deoxynivalenol using their monoclonal antibodies and magnetic nanoparticles

To develop a new simple and simultaneous purification method for mycotoxins in feeds and grains, magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) conjugated with monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against mycotoxins were used to separate aflatoxin B1 (AFB(1)), zearalenone (ZEA) and deoxynivalenol (DON). For a single spike of each mycotoxin into the buffer solution (16% MeOH in PBS), mean recoveries were 93.1–95.0% for AFB(1) (5–20 ng/mL spiked), 87.2–96.0% for ZEA (125–500 ng/mL spiked) and 75.2–96.9% for DON (250–1,000 ng/mL spiked) by HPLC and ELISA. Recoveries of AFB(1) (20 ng/mL) and ZEA (500 ng/mL) simultaneously spiked into the buffer solution were 87.0 and 99.8%, respectively. Recovery rates of AFB(1)/DON and DON/ZEA spiked simultaneously were 86.2%/76.6% and 92.0%/86.7%, respectively, at concentrations of 20 ng/mL AFB(1), 500 ng/mL ZEA, and 1,000 ng/mL DON. Recoveries using the novel mAb–MNP conjugated system in a buffer solution simultaneously spiked with AFB(1), ZEA and DON were 82.5, 94.6 and 73.4%, respectively. Recoveries of DON in animal feed were 107.7–132.5% at concentrations of 250–1,000 ng/g spiked in feed. The immunoaffinity chromatography (IAC) clean-up method was compared with the purification method using novel mAb–MNP. After fortification of animal feed with AFB(1) (5, 10 and 20 ng/g feed) and ZEA (125, 250 and 500 ng/g feed), AFB(1) and ZEA were purified using both the methods. In the case of the novel mAb-MNP conjugated system, mean recoveries for AFB(1) were 89.4, 73.1 and 88.3% at concentrations of 5, 10 and 20 ng/g feed, respectively. For ZEA, mean recoveries were 86.7, 85.9 and 79.1% at concentrations of 125, 250 and 500 ng/g, respectively. For IAC purification, recoveries were 42.9–45.1% for AFB(1) and 96.8–103.2% for ZEA. In conclusion, the present purification method using monoclonal antibodies conjugated to MNPs can be used for simple and simultaneous purification of mycotoxins from feed and maize. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s43188-020-00083-w.