A novel bioassay based on aptamer-functionalized magnetic nanoparticle for the detection of zearalenone using time resolved-fluorescence NaYF₄: Ce/Tb nanoparticles as signal probe

Zearalenone (ZEN) is a non-steroidal estrogenic mycotoxin produced by fungi on stored grains. The earlier detection methods used for ZEN rely on expensive equipment, time-consuming sample preparation and temperature sensitive antibodies. The current work, proposed a novel strategy based on ZEN aptamer labeled with amine-functionalized magnetic nanoparticle (MNPs) as a capture probe and time-resolved fluorescence (TRFL) nanoparticles labeled with complementary DNA (cDNA) as a signal probe. Under the optimized conditions, TRFL intensity at 544 nm was used to measure ZEN (R² = 0.9920) in the range of 0.001–10 ng mL⁻¹ and limits of detection (LOD) for proposed method was 0.21 pg mL⁻¹. The specificity of bioassay was also determined by using other mycotoxins (OTA, AFB₂, DON and Patulin) and results showed that the aptamer are specific to recognize only ZEN. The analytical applications of the present bioassay in maize and wheat samples were also examined and results were compared with existing methods. Based on these findings, it is suggested to use current rapid and simple bioassay for the determination of ZEN in food and agricultural products.