Development of an ELISA Reverse-Based Assay to Assess the Presence of Mycotoxins in Cereal Flour

The first successful application of the ELISA reverse method and device (ER m&d), in the context of food safety and traceability, was developed in our laboratories to detect and quantify CP4EPSPS and Cry1AB genetically modified related proteins in soy and maize samples, respectively. To prove the versatility and the transferability of the technology, the ER was here applied to assess the presence of mycotoxins in cereals. Appropriate protocols were developed to assess the presence of deoxynivalenol and ochratoxin A and the ER was tested on contaminated wheat samples. In particular, deoxynivalenol (DON) and ochratoxin A (OTA) were detected in a range of values from 430 to 5,000 μg kg−1 and from 1.7 to 10 μg kg−1, respectively. The assays were optimized to reach a limit of quantification equal to 550 and 1.8 μg kg−1 for DON and OTA, respectively.JRC.I.3-Molecular Biology and Genomic