BACKGROUND: Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) is a toxic metabolite
produced by Aspergillus species that contaminates a wide range of
agricultural products. OBJECTIVES: This study was designed to
develop a rapid and highly sensitive immunoassay method in
microarray format for quantitative detection of AFB1 to evaluate
the potential of microarray platform for high-throughput screening,
which can be beneficial in food and feed industry. METHODS:
Following successful optimization, using an indirect competitive
immunoassay in dot blot format, AFB1-bovine serum albumin
(AFB1-BSA) conjugate was contact-printed onto 16 isolated subarrays
on multi-pad nitrocellulose coated slides; subsequently used
in competitive binding assays. RESULTS: Using the aforementioned
assay, AFB1 was determined from 15 pg/g to 3.04 ng/g working
range with detection limit (LOD) of 1 pg/g. To evaluate assay
performance in real food matrices, the authors spiked wheat
samples with different concentration of AFB1. After extraction,
working ranges of 0.11-4.15 ng/g with detection limit of 30pg/g was
determined. Good recoveries (94±9%) were obtained, demonstrating
accurate detection of AFB1 concentrations in wheat samples.
Assay procedure completed in 3 hours. CONCLUSIONS: The results
indicated that the proposed developed assay in microarray format
could be used for rapid and sensitive detection of AFB1in wheat
samples.