Determination of Aflatoxin B 1 in Grains by Aptamer Affinity Column Enrichment and Purification Coupled with High Performance Liquid Chromatography Detection.

Aflatoxin B 1 (AFB 1 ) is a highly teratogenic and carcinogenic secondary metabolite produced by Aspergillus . It is commonly detected in agricultural products such as cereals, peanuts, corn, and feed. Grains have a complex composition. These complex components severely interfere with the effective extraction and separation of AFB 1 , and also cause problems such as matrix interference and instrument damage, thus posing a great challenge in the accurate analysis of AFB 1 . In this study, an aptamer affinity column for AFB 1 analysis (AFB 1 -AAC) was prepared for the enrichment and purification of AFB 1 from grain samples. AFB 1 -AAC with an AFB 1 -specific aptamer as the recognition element exhibited high affinity and specificity for AFB 1 . Grain samples were enriched and purified by AFB 1 -AAC, and subsequently analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography with post-column photochemical derivatization-fluorescence detection (HPLC-PCD-FLD). The average recoveries of AFB 1 ranged from 88.7% to 99.1%, with relative standard deviations (RSDs) of 1.4-5.6% ( n = 3) at the spiked levels of 5.0-20.0 μg kg -1 . The limit of detection (LOD) for AFB 1 (0.02 μg kg -1 ) was much below the maximum residue limits (MRLs) for AFB 1 . This novel method can be applied to the determination of AFB 1 residues in peanut, corn, and rice.