Nanoprobe-based rapid mycotoxin detection in agricultural products

Mycotoxins pose a significant health risk to humans and animals and cause significant financial losses for food processing companies. Estimates suggest that 25% of all food is contaminated with toxic mold products.

As part of the MykoNANO project, the Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology IME in Aachen, in collaboration with GeneCon International GmbH and the Institute of Complex Systems (ICS-8) ​​at the Jülich Research Center, developed an innovative rapid test for the detection of various mycotoxins in grain and dairy products.

This rapid test is based on magnetic immunodetection, in which monoclonal antibodies are bound to magnetic nanoprobes, allowing them to specifically bind to the toxins to be detected. A multiplex approach was used to capture and detect a variety of toxins within a sample. The magnetic mycotoxin-nanoprobe complexes can be magnetically separated, concentrated, and then detected with high sensitivity using a portable reader. A newly developed smartphone app was designed to guide the user through sample processing and to document and save the resulting data. In the future, it will be possible to ensure quickly and on-site that the food is free of contamination.