A fluorescence polarization immunoassay for the detection of aflatoxins in herbal teas

A rapid fluorescence polarization immunoassay (FPIA) has been developed for the determi-nation of aflatoxins in samples of naturally-contaminated herbal teas. The tracers were synthesized by chemical method and determined by thin layer chromatography (TLC) and mass spectroscopy (MS). Fluorescence polarization was evaluated by the detection of polarized light. The results showed that the limit of detection (LOD) of FPIA for aflatoxins was 20 ng·mL^-1, the IC₅₀ was 371.80 ng·mL^-1, and the linear range of the developed FPIA was 92.76-252.32 ng·mL^-1. Compared with conventional HPLC methods, the FPIA developed in this study has the advantages of short analysis time and low cost. This method may be suitable for high- throughput screening of aflatoxins in herbal teas.