Performance Evaluation of Biochip Chemiluminescent Immunoassay for Screening Seven Mycotoxins in Wheat Flour Simultaneously

Background: Wheat grains are susceptible to mycotoxins, toxic natural secondary metabolites generated by certain fungi on agricultural produce in the field during growth, harvest, transportation, or storage. Therefore, wheat flour can be contaminated with mycotoxins, which seriously threaten human health.

Methods: A rapid method for screening seven mycotoxins in wheat flour was validated in accordance with Commission Decision 2002/657/EC. With this multi-analytical screening method, 7 prevalent mycotoxins (fumonisin B1, ochratoxin A, aflatoxin G1, deoxynivalenol, T-2 toxin, aflatoxin B1, and zearalenone) can be determined simultaneously. The method's applicability was demonstrated by screening 7 mycotoxins in 39 wheat flour samples collected from different bakeries in Tehran province, Iran.

Results: The validation results indicated that for all 7 mycotoxins, the positivity threshold (T) was above the cut-off value (Fm), and no false positive results were obtained for any of the mycotoxins. The screening results of 12 packaged and 27 bulk wheat flour samples indicated that the concentrations of all mentioned mycotoxins were higher than the cut-off (in the relative light unit [RLU]), and all the samples were compliant.

Conclusions: The present study revealed that the biochip-based technique is valid for identifying and assessing the levels of 7 mycotoxins in grain samples, such as wheat flour, at the measured validation concentrations. The method was simple, fast, and able to screen 7 mycotoxins simultaneously. The test process of the kit is easy to conduct, and the results are straightforward to interpret.