Development of polyclonal antibody-based indirect competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for sodium saccharin residue in food samples

► 6-Amino-saccharin was used as a hapten and coupled to bovine serum albumin (BSA) for immunogen to produce specific polyclonal antibody (PcAb) for sodium saccharin. ► The PcAb was characterized by indirect ELISA and indirect competitive ELISA (icELISA) for its sensitivity and specificity. ► The ELISA conditions were optimized and an icELISA method for sodium saccharin was final developed with good sensitivity and specificity. ► The icELISA was applied to determination of sodium saccharin residues in food samples and the results were confirmed by HPLC method.