Flow-Through Aptamer-SERS Microfluidic Platform for Aflatoxin B1 Detection in Food Crops

Area of Science:

• Analytical Chemistry
• Biosensing
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Mycotoxins, like Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), pose significant risks to food safety due to their high toxicity.
• Current detection methods for AFB1 often lack the required sensitivity or specificity for complex food matrices.
• Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) offers high sensitivity but requires enhancement in selectivity for practical applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a highly selective and sensitive platform for detecting Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) in food crops.
• To integrate aptamer recognition with SERS technology for enhanced toxin detection.
• To create a robust lab-on-a-chip device for rapid, in situ mycotoxin analysis.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of a flow-through lab-on-a-chip device featuring a SERS-active gold nanohole array.
• Functionalization of the nanohole array with AFB1-specific aptamers to create an aptamer-SERS platform.
• Testing the platform's sensitivity and selectivity using standard solutions and real food crop extracts.

Main Results:

• The aptamer-SERS platform demonstrated rapid, high-affinity detection of AFB1.
• Sensitivity was evaluated in the range of 10-700 ppb, with a limit of detection of 10 ppb in complex food matrices.
• The aptamer-SERS system achieved highly selective and reproducible results, confirming its efficacy.

Conclusions:

• The developed aptamer-SERS lab-on-a-chip is a promising tool for sensitive and selective in situ detection of AFB1.
• This technology enhances food safety by enabling rapid monitoring of mycotoxin contamination.
• The platform's design offers potential for adaptation to other portable toxin-detection applications.