A Colorimetric Aptasensor for the Fast Detection of Zearalenone Based on AuNPs Combined with Argentation Amplification

Abstract

Zearalenone (ZEA) has strong reproductive toxicity, mutagenicity and teratogenicity. A rapid visual aptasensor for sensitive and specific detection of zearalenone (ZEA) was developed in this study based on gold nanoparticle (AuNP) aggregation induced by the competitive absorption of aptamer between gold nanoparticle and zearalenone. The results showed that a good linear correlation between the concentration of ZEA and the absorbance of AuNPs was found within the range of 5-200 ng·mL-1, the linear regression equation is y= 0.248 6+0.000 461 56x (R2=0.990 2). And the detection limit was 5 ng / ml with a good specificity. Furthermore, the sensitivity of the assay was further enhanced 50 times by combining with argentation amplification strategy. The reliability of the developed assay for detecting the actual corn and corn oil samples were verified by comparing with those detected by commercial ELISA kit. These results demonstrated that the developed assay has great potential in the rapid and specific detection of ZEA in foodstuffs.

Keywords

• zearalenone
• aptamer
• colorimetric assay
• aunp aggregation
• argentation amplification