Rational Hapten Design for the Immunochromatographic Assay of Yohimbine, an Emerging Adulterant in Food
Peixuan Chen, Zhiwei Liu, Kangliang Pan, Yi Lei, Xiaoqin Yu, Xinan Huang, Jiahong Chen, Hongtao Lei
Abstract
Adulterated yohimbine (YHB) in food poses a risk to public health, making it imperative to develop fast and sensitive detection methods. In this study, computational-chemistry-based prediction was employed to design YHB haptens for generating the high-affinity monoclonal antibody Yohi-4A7, which exhibited an optimal half-inhibitory concentration (IC 50 ) of 1.69 ng/mL against YHB. This antibody was utilized in constructing a gold nanoparticle-labeled immunochromatographic assay (ICA) to influence significant analytical parameters. The ICA presented cut off values of 5.0 ng/mL for aphrodisiac liquor and 5.0 ng/g for capsules, with detection limits of 0.56 ng/mL and 0.88 ng/g, quantification limits of 1.96 ng/mL and 2.58 ng/g, and satisfactory accuracy reflected by recovery rates ranging from 96.0 to 120.7%, respectively. Analysis of 26 blind samples using the ICA, followed by comparison with liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry results, revealed strong concordance between the two techniques. This work provides a reliable and efficient method for YHB detection in dietary supplements, fulfilling a critical requirement for ensuring food safety and protecting public health.