A sensitive and selective fluorimetric method of quick determination of sialic acids in egg products by lectin-CdTe quantum dots as nanoprobe

Sialic acids (SA) are widely found as components of oligosaccharide units in mucins, glycoproteins and other microbial polymers in nature food. The aim of this study is to create a new fluorimetric detection method applied for determinating SA in egg products by using a sensitive lectin-CdTe quantum dots (QDs) nanoprobe. Water-soluble and high luminescent CdTe QDs were conjugated with sambucus nigra bark lectin (SNA) as probe for SA detection. As a result of specific interaction between SA and SNA-CdTe QDs, the conjugations finally lead to the change of a fluorescent signal. Under optimal conditions, fluorescence intensity increase linearly with the increase of the concentration of SA ranging from 12 to 680 ng/mL. The low detection limit is 0.67 ng/mL. This quick and selective analysis method for SA detection has been used in synthetic samples and egg products with recovery between 97.92% and 110.42%, which demonstrates the application of this assay is feasible and practical.