Determination of zearalenone in corn based on a biotin-avidin amplified enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay

A biotin-avidin amplified enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (BA-ELISA) method was developed to detect zearalenone (ZEN) residues in corn. The concentration of coating antigen, biotinylated monoclonal antibody specific to ZEN, avidin-horseradish peroxidase and reaction time in the system of BA-ELISA method were optimised. Under the optimum conditions, a good linear relationship between binding ratio and ZEN concentration in the range of 0.54 to 7.99 ng/mL was obtained. The regression equation was y=?21.26 ln(x)+66.89 (R²=0.9989). The limit of detection and limit of quantification were 0.35 ng/mL and 0.812 ng/mL. The IC₅₀ was calculated to be 2.071 ng/mL. In comparison with the traditional ELISA method, the sensitivity of BA-ELISA method developed has been elevated by six times. The recovery and coefficient of variation with the spiked corn samples were in the range of 86.6% to 93.7% and less than 7.8%, respectively. It promises a bright future for the sensitive and rapid detecting method of ZEN residues in corn.