Taotao Qiu: College of Physical Education and Health, Guangxi Normal University, Guilin 541004, China.
Huayi Zhang: College of Physical Education and Health, Guangxi Normal University, Guilin 541004, China.
Hongtao Lei: Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Food Quality and Safety, National-Local Joint Engineering Research Center for Machining and Safety of Livestock and Poultry Products, College of Food Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China. ORCID
Lin Zhang: College of Physical Education and Health, Guangxi Normal University, Guilin 541004, China.
Yaqiong Zhang: Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Food Quality and Safety, National-Local Joint Engineering Research Center for Machining and Safety of Livestock and Poultry Products, College of Food Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China.
Xing Shen: Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Food Quality and Safety, National-Local Joint Engineering Research Center for Machining and Safety of Livestock and Poultry Products, College of Food Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China. ORCID
Biyun Xu: College of Physical Education and Health, Guangxi Normal University, Guilin 541004, China.
Jialin Zhu: College of Physical Education and Health, Guangxi Normal University, Guilin 541004, China. ORCID
Wentao Xiao: College of Physical Education and Health, Guangxi Normal University, Guilin 541004, China.
Jixu Zheng: College of Physical Education and Health, Guangxi Normal University, Guilin 541004, China.
Jiahong Chen: Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Food Quality and Safety, National-Local Joint Engineering Research Center for Machining and Safety of Livestock and Poultry Products, College of Food Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China.
Post-fermented tea (PFT) is one of the most commonly consumed beverages worldwide. Rapid microbial growth and significant changes in the microbial composition of PFT during processing and storage pose a potential risk of contamination with mycotoxins such as zearalenone (ZEN). Screening for ZEN contamination in a simple, rapid, and inexpensive manner is required to ensure that PFT is safe for consumption. To monitor ZEN in PFT, ZEN was conjugated with bovine serum albumin to prepare egg yolk immunoglobulins (IgY). A specific indirect competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ic-ELISA) based on IgY was developed and validated. ZEN was extracted with acetonitrile and water (50:50, /) containing 5% acetic acid and purified using a mixture of primary and secondary amines and graphitized carbon black to remove matrix interference from the PFT samples. Under optimal conditions, the linear range of this assay was 13.8-508.9 ng mL, the limit of detection was 9.3 ng mL, and the half-maximal inhibitory concentration was 83.8 ng mL. Cross-reactivity was negligible, and the assay was specific for ZEN-related molecules. The recovery rate of ZEN in the control blanks of PFT samples spiked with a defined concentration of ZEN of 89.5% to 98.0%. The recovery and accuracy of the method were qualified for PFT matrices. No significant differences were evident between the results of the actual PFT samples analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography and ic-ELISA. The collective data indicate that the developed ic-ELISA can be used for the rapid and simple detection of ZEN in PFT products.
