Toxicant substitutes in immunological assays for mycotoxins detection: A mini review

• Published in: Food chemistry Vol. 344; p. 128589
• Main Authors: Li, Ping, Deng, Shengliang, Zech Xu, Zhenjiang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 15.05.2021
• Subjects: Anti-idiotypic antibody; Antibodies, Anti-Idiotypic - immunology; Antibodies, Anti-Idiotypic - metabolism; Antigens - analysis; Antigens - immunology; Bacteriophages - metabolism; detection; environment; food chemistry; food safety; Humans; Immunoassay; Immunoassay - methods; Mimotope; Mycotoxin; mycotoxins; Mycotoxins - analysis; Nanobody; Single-Domain Antibodies - chemistry; Single-Domain Antibodies - immunology; standardization; Toxicant substitutes; Nanobody; Immunoassay; Anti-idiotypic antibody; Toxicant substitutes; Mimotope; Mycotoxin
• ISSN: 0308-8146; 1873-7072; 1873-7072
• DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2020.128589

•Toxicant-substitute based immunoassays for detecting mycotoxins were reviewed.•Toxicant substitute-based assays showed satisfying sensitivity and reliability.•Toxicant substitutes facilitate the standardization of immunoassays for mycotoxins.•Toxicant substitutes pose reduced harmfulness to operators and environment.•Toxicant substitutes contribute to develop eco-friendly immunoassays. Recurring mycotoxins contamination has posedaseriousthreatto food safety worldwide. Competitive immunoassays are widely used techniques for high-throughput mycotoxins detection in agricultural products and foods. However, the inevitable introduction of mycotoxin conjugates produced by chemical conjugation usually results in complicated by-products, large batch errors and threats to operators and environment. Biologically derived surrogates of mycotoxin conjugates or mycotoxin standards are renewable immunoreagents. They can serve the same function as the responding counterparts in the immunoassays. The substitute-based immunoassays exhibit satisfactory sensitivity, pose less health threats to operators and environment, and contribute to the standardization of immunoassays for mycotoxins. This review focuses on the current applications of substitute-based immunoassays, clarifies their underlying mechanisms and provides a careful comparison. Challenges and future prospects are discussed.