Antibody Production and Immunoassay Development for Authenticating Chlorpheniramine Maleate Adulteration in Herbal Tea
Jianhao Lin,
Zhiwei Liu,
Tian Guan,
Yi Lei,
Liangwen Pan,
Xiaoqin Yu,
Shiwei Zhang,
Xin-An Huang,
Hongtao Lei,
Jiahong Chen
Affiliations
Jianhao Lin
Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Food Quality and Safety/Nation-Local Joint Engineering Research Center for Machining and Safety of Livestock and Poultry Products, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
Zhiwei Liu
Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Food Quality and Safety/Nation-Local Joint Engineering Research Center for Machining and Safety of Livestock and Poultry Products, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
Tian Guan
Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Food Quality and Safety/Nation-Local Joint Engineering Research Center for Machining and Safety of Livestock and Poultry Products, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
Yi Lei
Guangzhou Institute of Food Inspection, Guangzhou 511410, China
Liangwen Pan
Animal, Plant and Food Inspection and Quarantine Technology Center, Shanghai Customs, Shanghai 200135, China
Xiaoqin Yu
Sichuan Institute of Food Inspection, Chengdu 610097, China
Shiwei Zhang
National Nutrition Food Testing Center, Shenzhen Academy of Metrology and Quality Inspection, Shenzhen 518131, China
Xin-An Huang
Tropical Medicine Institute & South China Chinese Medicine Collaborative Innovation Center, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou 510405, China
Hongtao Lei
Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Food Quality and Safety/Nation-Local Joint Engineering Research Center for Machining and Safety of Livestock and Poultry Products, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
Jiahong Chen
Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Food Quality and Safety/Nation-Local Joint Engineering Research Center for Machining and Safety of Livestock and Poultry Products, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
Chlorphenamine maleate is a prohibited additive found in herbal teas and health foods. Excessive intake of this substance can result in adverse health effects. In this study, two novel haptens, PEM and bepotastine (PB1), mimicking chlorphenamine maleate structure were designed and synthesized based on molecular simulation for developing two corresponding polyclonal antibodies (PEM-Ab and PB1-Ab), respectively. Afterward, an indirect competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ic-ELISA) was developed to quickly and accurately detect chlorphenamine maleate in herbal teas using PB1-Ab, which has a high sensitivity and specificity. For chlorphenamine maleate, the half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) and limit of detection (LOD) of PB1-Ab under ideal circumstances were found to be 1.18 µg/L and 0.07 µg/L, respectively. Besides, an environmentally friendly sample pre-treatment strategy was employed that allowed easy and effective elimination of complex matrices. The ic-ELISA method observed the average recovery rate from 87.7% to 94.0% with the variance coefficient (CV) ranging from 2.2% to 9.4%. Additionally, the identification of 25 commercially available herbal teas using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) further confirmed the validity of our detection. The results of the two methods are consistent. Overall, the proposed ic-ELISA could be an ultrasensitive and reliable method for chlorphenamine maleate adulterated in foods or exposure to the environment.
