IMMUNODETECTION OF ALTERNARIOL IN FOOD

Alternariol is one of the most important secondary metabolites produced by fungi of the genus Alternaria. This mycotoxin is frequently detected in a wide variety of foods, such as lentils, carrots, tomatoes, berries, apples, pears, beer, wines, juices and various cereals and flours. Due to its toxicity, its presence in food constitutes a problem for human health and especially for the child population, who are more exposed due to the presence of the mycotoxin in those products that contribute the most to their diet, such as cereals, fruits and derived products. The small concentrations at which this potent toxin is usually found commonly require the use of sophisticated chromatographic methods. These techniques require laborious and costly methodologies, which must be performed by highly qualified personnel in accredited laboratories and usually far from production areas. These limitations determine the suitability of these techniques for the analysis of a large number of samples and to obtain results in short term, two key aspects to ensure the safety of marketed foods, as well as for more exhaustive studies on exposure of consumers to these toxins through food. Researchers from Universitat de València and from the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas have obtained the reagents (haptens, bioconjugates and antibodies) required for the development of immunochemical methods for alternariol that allow its rapid determination with high sensitivity, selectivity and minimal sample preparation. Analysis by immunoassay means lower cost, greater simplicity and great sampling capacity, thus solving the limitations that show the conventional analytical techniques. These immunoreagents have shown their efficacy in direct competitive ELISA to detect concentrations of parts per billion. These immunoreagents can be easily implemented in various analytical platforms, from the simplest, such as competitive ELISAs and immunochromatographic strips, to more complex, like chips or biosensors of different types, which allows us to simultaneously analyze a large number of samples in low-resource settings such as processing plants and even farmlands. Furthermore, the antibodies developed can also be used for the purification and/or concentration of alternariol in samples.