Development of anti-zearalenone monoclonal antibody and detection of zearalenone in corn products from China by ELISA

High-throughput screening enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (HTS-ELISA) method was used for screening of hybridoma cells that secret high-affinity anti-zearalenone (ZON) monoclonal antibody (mAb). Recovery rate of ZON from spiked corn samples was between 80% and 128%. The cross-reactivities of the anti-ZON mAb against ZON, β-zearalenol, α-zearalanol, β-zearalanol, deoxynivalenol and aflatoxin B1 were 100%, 24.1%, 189.1%, 43.9%, <1.0%, <1.0%, respectively. The limit of detection for ZON was 0.1 ng/g. The linear range for the developed indirect competitive ELISA was 0.5–10 ng/g. The half maximal (50%) inhibitory concentration (IC50) of the anti-ZON mAb was 1.79 ng/g. In total, 137 samples of corn, powdered corn, and processed corn products were collected from farms and supermarkets in northeastern China. Of 42 corn samples tested, 4 (9.5%) samples contained ZON 5–60 ng/g, 4 (9.5%) samples contained 60–500 ng/g, In 34 (81%) samples ZON was not detected. Of 15 powered corn samples, only 1 (6.7%) sample contained 5–60 ng/g, and no ZON was detected in 80 processed corn products.