title: Rapid Detection of Food Allergens by Microfluidics ELISA-Based Optical Sensor.
abstract: The risks associated with the presence of hidden allergens in food have increased the need for rapid, sensitive, and reliable methods for tracing food allergens in commodities. Conventional enzyme immunosorbent assay (ELISA) has usually been performed in a centralized lab, requiring considerable time and sample/reagent consumption and expensive detection instruments. In this study, a microfluidic ELISA platform combined with a custom-designed optical sensor was developed for the quantitative analysis of the proteins wheat gluten and Ara h 1. The developed microfluidic ELISA biosensor reduced the total assay time from hours (up to 3.5 h) to 15-20 min and decreased sample/reagent consumption to 5-10 μL, compared to a few hundred microliters in commercial ELISA kits, with superior sensitivity. The quantitative capability of the presented biosensor is a distinctive advantage over the commercially available rapid methods such as lateral flow devices (LFD) and dipstick tests. The developed microfluidic biosensor demonstrates the potential for sensitive and less-expensive on-site determination for rapidly detecting food allergens in a complex sample system.
authors.affiliation: Bionano Lab, School of Engineering, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada. xuanw@uoguelph.ca.
authors.forename: Xuan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Weng
authors.affiliation: Bionano Lab, School of Engineering, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada. ggaur@uoguelph.ca.
authors.forename: Gautam
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gaur
authors.affiliation: Bionano Lab, School of Engineering, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada. sneethir@uoguelph.ca.
authors.forename: Suresh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Neethirajan
mesh_terms: D000485:Allergens / Q000032:analysis*; D052179:Antigens, Plant / Q000032:analysis; D015374:Biosensing Techniques; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005502:Food / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005983:Glutens / Q000032:analysis; D006023:Glycoproteins / Q000032:analysis; D056656:Lab-On-A-Chip Devices; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D044085:Microfluidics / Q000379:methods*; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D000485:Allergens; D052179:Antigens, Plant; C500889:Ara h 1 protein, Arachis hypogaea; D006023:Glycoproteins; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D010940:Plant Proteins; D005983:Glutens
keywords: Ara h 1; food allergen; gluten; microfluidics; optical sensor