Aflatoxin rapid test

Because aflatoxin is a carcinogen. Therefore, people must be careful to avoid aflatoxin bacteria. If aflatoxin is accidentally ingested, excessive accumulation will definitely cause cancer cells in the body to become lesions, leading to cancer. Some foods contain aflatoxin, so you must understand what the food contains before eating it. Next, I will teach you how to determine aflatoxin.

Detection Methods

Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC)

The TLC method is the most classic method for detecting aflatoxin. It was also the most commonly used method in the past. It is still used by some testing agencies and is also a national standard method. The principle is to use a suitable extraction solvent to extract aflatoxin from different samples, purify it by column chromatography, and then develop it on a thin plate and separate it. Utilizing the fluorescence characteristics of aflatoxin, its content is determined by comparing the intensity of the fluorescent spot with the standard. For some samples with very complex components, bidirectional development is required to obtain higher sensitivity.

The TLC method has simple equipment and low detection costs, but the operation is cumbersome and time-consuming, the extraction and purification effects are not ideal, the sensitivity is poor, and there is a great degree of harm to the health of the operators.

Liquid chromatography (HPLC)

HPLC is a detection method developed in recent years. The principle is to add a post-column derivatization system to the high performance liquid chromatography for separation and then measure with a fluorescence detector. The supporting post-column derivatization systems include iodine derivatization, bromine derivatization, and the more advanced electrochemical derivatization and photochemical derivatization methods. Currently, this method mostly uses immunoaffinity columns for purification and separation, and its purification effect is excellent.

This method can accurately separate different types of aflatoxins (for example: AFB1, AFB2, AFG1 and AFM1, etc.), has a fast detection speed, accurate qualitative and quantitative analysis, and a low detection limit. It can be used as an arbitration method, but the instruments and equipment are expensive, and the pretreatment methods are relatively cumbersome. If immunoaffinity columns are used, the cost of sample testing will increase, and there is still a certain harm to the health of operators.

Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)

ELISA is also a relatively new method developed in recent years. The principle is based on the specific immunological reaction between antibodies and antigens, and finally uses the method of measuring enzyme activity to increase the sensitivity of the measurement.

This method has a fast detection speed and little harm to the human body, but it has poor repeatability, a short reagent life, requires low-temperature storage, has a high probability of false positives, requires a special microplate reader, and requires additional processing for some samples rich in salt and fat.