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Aflatoxin detection technologies: recent advances and future prospects

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Abstract

Aflatoxins have posed serious threat to food safety and human health. Therefore, it is important to detect aflatoxins in samples rapidly and accurately. In this review, various technologies to detect aflatoxins in food are discussed, including conventional ones such as thin-layer chromatography (TLC), high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), colloidal gold immunochromatographic assay (GICA), radioimmunoassay (RIA), fluorescence spectroscopy (FS), as well as emerging ones (e.g., biosensors, molecular imprinting technology, surface plasmon resonance). Critical challenges of these technologies include high cost, complex processing procedures and long processing time, low stability, low repeatability, low accuracy, poor portability, and so on. Critical discussion is provided on the trade-off relationship between detection speed and detection accuracy, as well as the application scenario and sustainability of different technologies. Especially, the prospect of combining different technologies is discussed. Future research is necessary to develop more convenient, more accurate, faster, and cost-effective technologies to detect aflatoxins.

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Data availability

All data generated or analysed during this study are included in this published article.

Abbreviations

ADC:

Analogue-digital-converter

AFB1 :

Aflatoxin B1

AFB2 :

Aflatoxin B2

AFG1 :

Aflatoxin G1

AFG2 :

Aflatoxin G2

AFM1 :

Aflatoxin M1

AFM2 :

Aflatoxin M2

AFP1 :

Aflatoxin P1

AFQ1 :

Aflatoxin Q1

AuNPs:

Gold nanoparticles

AuNRs:

Gold nanorods

BSA:

Bovine albumin

CM:

Chemical enhancement

CMO:

Carboxymethoxylamine hemihydrochloride

CTAB:

Cetyltrimethylammonium bromide

dcFLISA:

Direct competitive fluorescence-linked immunosorbent assay

ELISA:

Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay

EM:

Electromagnetic enhancement

FA:

Fluorescence anisotropy

FLD:

Fluorescence detector

FS:

Fluorescence spectroscopy

GICA:

Colloidal gold immunochromatographic assay

HLB:

Hydrophilic-lipophilic balance

HPLC:

High performance liquid chromatography

ICA:

Immunochromatographic assay

KLH:

Keyhole limpet

LED:

Light emitting diode

LFIA:

Lateral flow immunoassay

LLE:

Liquid-liquid extraction

LOD:

Limit of detection

LTP:

Low temperature partitioning

MIPs:

Molecularly imprinted polymers

MIT:

Molecular imprinting technology

MRLs:

Maximum residue levels

MOF:

Metal-organic framework

MOFLISA:

MOF-linked immunosorbent assay

OA:

Operational amplifier integrated circuit

OVA:

Ovalbumin

PBS:

Phosphate-buffered saline

PBST:

Phosphate-buffered saline with Tween 20

PRiME:

Process, robustness, improvements, matrix effects, ease of use

QCM:

Quartz crystal microbalance

QDs:

Quantum dots

RIA:

Radioimmunoassay

RSD:

Relative standard deviation

SERS:

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering

SPR:

Surface plasmon resonance

TFA:

Trifluoroacetic acid

TLC:

Thin-layer chromatography

TMB:

Tetramethylbenzidine

TMR:

Tetramethylrhodamine

UHPLC-MS/MS:

Ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

References

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Funding

This work was supported by the Beijing Municipal Commission of Education (grant no. PXM2019_014213_000007) and School Level Cultivation Fund of Beijing Technology and Business University for Distinguished and Excellent Young Scholars (grant no. BTBUYP2020).

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Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Contributions

Shenqi Liu: Methodology, Investigation, Writing - Original Draft; Shanxue Jiang: Conceptualization, Methodology, Writing - Original Draft, Writing - Reviewing and Editing; Zhiliang Yao: Supervision, Funding acquisition, Writing - Reviewing and Editing; Minhua Liu: Supervision, Writing - Reviewing and Editing

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Zhiliang Yao.

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Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Additional information

Responsible Editor: Mohamed M. Abdel-Daim

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Liu, S., Jiang, S., Yao, Z. et al. Aflatoxin detection technologies: recent advances and future prospects. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 79627–79653 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-28110-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-28110-x

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