Visual Non-Instrumental On-Site Detection of Fumonisin B₁, B₂, and B₃ in Cereal Samples Using a Clean-Up Combined with Gel-Based Immunoaffinity Test Column Assay.

A visual immunoaffinity test column (IATC) assay was developed to detect fumonisins in cereal samples for spot tests without the need for special instruments. The developed IATC assay had equivalent recognition capability for fumonisin B₁ (FB₁), fumonisin B₂ (FB₂), or fumonisin B₃ (FB₃), and exhibited no cross-reactivity with aflatoxin B₁, ochratoxin A, zearalenone, or the T-2 toxin. The sample pretreatment was accomplished more rapidly and with greater ease, the entire assay procedure was completed in approximately 10 min, including sample pretreatment and testing. The limits of detection (LODs) of the IATC assay to detect fumonisins in the maize, barley, oat, and millet samples were 20 μg kg−1. The results of the spiked maize, barley, oat, and millet and real maize samples by the IATC assay agreed well with the results obtained by the commercial fumonisin enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test kit and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), respectively. The developed IATC assay can serve as a useful screening tool for the rapid, qualitative, and semi-quantitative detection of the total content of fumonisins (sum of FB₁, FB₂, and FB₃) in cereal samples on-site.