Ultrasensitive immunoassays based on biotin-streptavidin amplified system for quantitative determination of family zearalenones

In this work, based on a newly obtained monoclonal antibody (MAb) against zearalenone (ZEN) and biotin-streptavidin system (BSAS) for signal amplification, two sensitive and rapid immunoassay formats including biotin-streptavidin amplified enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (BA-ELISA) and biotin-streptavidin amplified fluorescence-linked immunosorbent assay (BA-FLISA), were developed for family zearalenones (ZENs) determination. And the limits of detection (LODs) of ZEN were 0.02 ng mL−1 and 0.10 ng mL−1 for BA-ELISA and BA-FLISA respectively. Using the BA-ELISA platform the half maximal inhibitory concentrations (IC50) were 0.18 ng mL−1 for ZEN, 0.39 ng mL−1 for α-zearalenol (α-ZOL), 0.46 ng mL−1 for β-zearalenol (β-ZOL), 0.30 ng mL−1 for zearalanone (ZAN), 0.30 ng mL−1 for α-zearalanol (α-ZAL), and 0.73 ng mL−1 for β-zearalanol (β-ZAL). With the broad specificity, the developed immunoassays could be used as sensitive and valuable tools for detection of family ZENs. Additionally, the suitability of the proposed immunoassays for its application to corn flour and corn based baby food has also been investigated.