Development of a sensitive ELISA for the determination of fumonisin B-1 incereals

Monoclonal fumonisin B-1 antibodies with high titer were raised by using FB 1-glutaraldehydekeyhole limpet hemocyanin immunogen prepared by a short cro ss-linker reagent (glutaraldehyde). Mean cross-reactivities of the selected monoclonal antibody for FB1, FB2, and FB3 were 100, 91.8, and 209%, respec tively; no reactivity was found with hydrolyzed fumonisin. A direct, compet itive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for the quantitative determination of FB1 in cereals has been developed with this antibody. Fifty percent acet onitrile-based solvent with some additives was used for extraction of cerea ls, and the diluted extracts were used without cleanup in the test. The mea n within-assay and interassay coefficients of variation for the standard cu rve were <10%. The measuring range of this test is 10-500 ng/g, with a dete ction limit of 7.6 ng/g FB1. The toxin recovery from cereals infected with 50-200 ng/g of FB1 varied between 61 and 84%. According to the comparable r esults of naturally infected maize samples, this test proved to be suitable for the rapid screening of food and feed samples for the presence of FBs.