Principle and Application of Aflatoxin Tester

Principle and Application of Aflatoxin Tester

Aflatoxin (AFT) is a kind of compounds with similar chemical structures, all of which are derivatives of dihydrofuranocoumarin. Aflatoxin is a secondary metabolite mainly produced by aspergillus flavus and a. parasiticus, and the incidence of aflatoxin in food and feed is highest in hot and humid regions.

Aflatoxin exists in soil, animals and plants, and various nuts, especially grain and oil products such as peanuts, corn, rice, soybeans, wheat, etc., which is the most toxic type of mycotoxins and is extremely harmful to human health. Therefore, the quality inspection and testing departments of the relevant food and feed industries will inspect the aflatoxin in the samples.

The aflatoxin tester is based on the principle of time-resolved fluorescence quantitative detection. When the sample is dropped in the sample application area, the determinand in the sample is combined with the fluorescent microsphere-labeled antibody in the binding pad, and is chromatographed forward by capillary action. When it reaches  the detection area, the antigen immobilized on the T line of the detection line binds to the remaining part of the fluorescent microsphere-labeled antibody. The amount of the fluorescent microsphere-labeled antibody bound on the T line of the detection line is inversely proportional to the amount of the determinand in the sample, while the fluorescent labeled matter bound to line C of the quality control line has nothing to do with the amount of the determinand in the sample, and other fluorescent labeled matters continue to chromatograph to reach the absorption area. After the chromatography, use the fluorescence reader to read the fluorescence intensity of the T line and C line and calculate the T/C value, and then the content of the determinand in the sample can be calculated through the standard curve built into the instrument.

Aflatoxin tester, with a relatively wide detection range, can be used to test various products such as grain and oil, meat products, medicinal materials, dairy products, food, feed etc., and the portable aflatoxin tester can also facilitate on-site detection. Aflatoxin testers are widely used in food and drug administration, health supervision departments, agricultural departments, inspection and quarantine departments, food production enterprises and other units and departments to monitor the unsafe indicators in food.