Detection of fumonisin B1 by aptamer-functionalized magnetic beads and ultra-performance liquid chromatography

Mycotoxin contamination endangers human health and life through the whole food supply chain. The monitoring of mycotoxin pollution requires reliable and sensitive detection methods. Conventional Ultra Performance Liquid Chromatography (UPLC) with immunoaffinity column suffers from the limitations of low sensitivity and efficiency. To overcome these limitations, we developed a strategy based on polyethylene glycol (PEG) mediated and aptamer (Apt) functionalized magnetic beads (MBs) to enrich and separate fumonisin B1 (FB1), which was subsequently detected through UPLC. The established strategy showed a good linear relationship when the concentration range of FB1 was 1–70 ng/mL. The feasibility of this strategy had been verified with the spiked corn flour samples, and achieved high specificity and excellent accuracy with a limit of detection (LOD) as low as 3.75 ng/mL. In addition, PEG was introduced into the system as a mediator, which could reduce steric hindrance and the cost. And the established platform has the potential to be applied for determination of other mycotoxins by changing Apt.