Sensitive and portable intelligent detection of imidacloprid in agricultural products using smartphone-integrated test strips

Abstract

The detection rate of imidacloprid (IMI) in agro-products are increasing annually, posing negative effects on food safety and human health. A sensitive and portable dual-mode lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA) method, combined with the smartphone, has been established to monitor the IMI residues in agro-products. Optimal detection conditions were achieved with 0.4 mg/mL of IMI coating antigen and 4 μg/mL of IMI monoclonal antibody. The limit of detection (LOD) for qualitative analysis with naked-eye observation was determined to be 25 ng/mL. For quantitative analysis, 20% inhibition concentration (IC₂₀) was found to be 2.55 ng/mL, with a linear range (IC₂₀–IC₈₀) of 2.55–26.94 ng/mL. The recoveries and relative standard deviation (RSD) were in the ranges of 90.4%–103.2% and 2.0%–11.7%, respectively. There was a strong agreement between the results obtained from the established method and those from UHPLC-MS/MS, with the slope and coefficient of determination (R²) reaching to 1.091 and 0.9837, respectively. Overall, the proposed dual-mode LFIA method provides an efficient approach for on-site detection of IMI in agro-products.

Keywords

imidacloprid / lateral flow immunoassay / rapid detection / smartphone

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