Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using a specific monoclonal antibody as a new tool to detect Sudan dyes and Para red

To set up an immunoassay-based method to detect Sudan dyes and Para red, we generated a monoclonal antibody (Mab) using a specially designed carboxyl derivative of Sudan I (CSD I) as the immunogen. CSD I was synthesized by azocoupling reaction using 2-naphthol and diazotised 4-aminobenzoic acid. The antibody was obtained from a hybridoma, which was derived from the fusion of the mouse myeloma SP2/0 cells and the splenocytes from the mice immunized with the CSD I–bovine serum albumin (BSA) conjugate. In addition, we showed that the Mab was highly specific for Sudan I, III and Para red. The limit of detection was approximately 0.01 ng mL−1 in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) buffer and 0.5 ng g−1 in chilli tomato sauce. The recoveries of Sudan I, III and Para red for the chilli tomato sauce were from 84% to 99% and coefficients of variation were from 14.9% to 33.3%. Thus, the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method is a rapid and high throughput screening tool to detect Sudan dyes and Para red in food products.