A rapid fluorescence polarization immunoassay for the determination of T-2 and HT-2 toxins in wheat.

A rapid fluorescence polarization (FP) immunoassay has been developed for the simultaneous determination of T-2 and HT-2 toxins in naturally contaminated wheat samples. Syntheses of four fluorescein-labelled T-2 or HT-2 toxin tracers were carried out and their binding response with seven monoclonal antibodies was evaluated. The most sensitive antibody-tracer combination was obtained by using an HT-2-specific antibody and a fluorescein-HT-2 tracer. The developed competitive FP immunoassay in solution showed high cross-reactivity for T-2 toxin (CR% = 100%) while a very low CR% for neosolaniol (0.12%) and no cross-reactivity with other mycotoxins frequently occurring in wheat. A rapid extraction procedure using 90% methanol was applied to wheat samples prior to FP immunoassay. The average recovery from spiked wheat samples (50 to 200 μg kg(-1)) was 96% with relative standard deviation generally lower than 8%. A limit of detection of 8 μg kg(-1) for the combined toxins was determined. Comparative analyses of 45 naturally contaminated and spiked wheat samples by both the FP immunoassay and high-performance liquid chromatography/immunoaffinity clean-up showed a good correlation (r = 0.964). These results, combined with the rapidity (10 min) and simplicity of the assay, show that this method is suitable for high throughput screening as well as for quantitative determination of T-2 and HT-2 toxins in wheat.