Development of immunochromatography strip-test using nanocolloidal gold-antibody probe for the rapid detection of aflatoxin B1 in grain and feed samples

An immunochromatography (ICG) strip test using a nanocolloidal gold-antibody probe was developed and optimized for the rapid detection of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1). A monoclonal antibody specific to AFB1 was produced from the cloned hybridoma cell (AF78), coupled with nanocolloidal gold, and distributed on the conjugate pad of the ICG strip test. The visual detection limit of the ICG strip test was 0.5 ng/ml, and this method showed a cross-reaction to aflatoxin B2, G1, and G2. In total, 172 grain and feed samples were collected and analyzed by both the ICG strip test and HPLC. The results of the ICG strip test showed a good agreement with those obtained by HPLC. These results indicated that the ICG strip test has a potential use as a rapid and cost-effective screening tool for the determination of AFB1 in real samples and could be applied to the preliminary screening of mycotoxin in food and agricultural products, generating results within 15 min without complicated steps.