Abstract
Enzyme linked-immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for a rapid detection of fungi, Aspergillus and Penicillium genera in food, were developed and their efficiencies were approved by detecting artificially contaminated agricultural commodities. Mice were immunized with partially purified Aspergillus flavus extracellualr polysaccharide (EPS) and lymph node cells of the mice were fused with the myeloma cells for production of monoclonal antibodies. Mab 1G11, one of the antibodies, was selected and purified. A sandwich ELISA was established and its detection limit toward A. flavus EPS was 1mg/ml. Among the 59 strains tested (including 18 species of Aspergillus, 16 of Penicillium, 11 of Fusarium, 1 of Absidia, 2 of Alternaria, 2 of Candida, 2 of Cladosporium, 2 of Geotrichum, 2 of Mucor, 2 of Rhizopus, 1 of Trichoderma), species of Aspergillus and penicillium had a high reactivity with Mab 1G11 even up to 10,000 times dilution of culture broths. The other genera except Cladosporium resinae showed no reactivity, thus Mab 1G11 was specific to the genera of Aspergillus and Penicillium. The epitope of A. flavus EPS against monoclonal Mab 1G11 was on the carbohydrate moiety when 1 to 100$\mu g/g$ A. flavus EPS were put into rice, potato, and mandarin orange, the average recoveries detected by sandwich ELIA were 123, 59, and 76%, respectively. Correlation was found to be linear between the EPS, and mycelium of A. flavus and Penicillium citrinum grown in a liquid medium (r=0.87 and 0.96), and also between the EPS and colony forming unit in solid media of rice of potato (r=0.91-0.99).