Aims: To produce specific antibodies against the haptenic fungal toxin afla
toxin B-1 (AFB(I)) and apply these antibodies in immunochemical assays for
aflatoxins.
Methods and Results: Rabbits were immunized using an AFB(1)-bovine serum al
bumin conjugate and serum titres determined by double-antibody enzyme immun
oassay. High titres of antibodies with very high affinity for AFB(1) were o
btained 15 and 4 weeks after the initial immunization and the first booster
immunization respectively. The antibodies were employed in enzyme immunoas
say (EIA) and immunoaffinity chromatography (IAC) methods for aflatoxins. W
ith a detection limit of 15.8 pg ml(-1) for AFB(1), the EIA employing these
antibodies is the most sensitive test for AFB(1) described so far. In IAC
columns, these antibodies provided high binding capacity for all major afla
toxins, including AFB(1), AFB(2), AFG(1) and AFG(2).
Conclusions: The antibodies described here are useful for the analysis of t
race levels of aflatoxins.
Significance and Impact of the Study: Polyclonal antibody-based EIA and IAC
methods for aflatoxin analysis offer a suitable alternative to the more ex
pensive monoclonal antibody-based methods.