An enzyme linked immunoassay for the determination of deoxynivalenol in wheat based on chicken egg yolk antibodies

An indirect competitive enzyme linked immunoassay (ELISA) for the detection of the Fusarium mycotoxin deoxynivalenol (DON) in wheat was developed. ins tead of the much more common antibody isolation from mammal serum, DON spec ific antibodies were, for the first time, isolated from the eggs of previou sly immunized hens. The limit of detection was 2 mu g/L for standard curves and spiked wheat extracts. Recoveries for naturally contaminated samples ( 200-525 mu g/kg) were between 80 and 125% compared with GC-ECD data. Concen trations for naturally contaminated samples were chosen with regard to curr ent Austrian guidelines concerning DON levels in produce intended for human consumption, recommending a maximum of 500 mu g DON/kg.