The research group 'Synthesis of Molecules for Biotechnological Applications' (SYMOBIA) of the Department of Organic Chemistry, led by Professors from the Universitat Antonio Abad and Consuelo Agulló, in collaboration with researchers of the Agricultural Chemistry and Food Technology (IATA) of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), have developed a new analytical method that allows an early and ultrasensitive detection of patulin in food. 

Patulin was the only one of the most relevant mycotoxins present in food for which no immunoanalytical methods had been developed so far, the methodological choice in the agro-food industry for determining mycotoxins, thanks to its high sensitivity and specificity, low cost and analytical capacity.

Severe symptoms produced by this toxin include liver, spleen and kidney damage, as well as toxicity to the immune system and possible genotoxicity. Because of its toxicity, the European Food Safety Authority has set very demanding maximum levels of patulin in apples and, especially, in food aimed at babies and young children. 

Traditional methods for detecting this type of compounds are based on the chromatography separation coupled to mass spectrometry, and they require sophisticated and expensive equipment as well as specialized personnel. Immunoanalytical methods, in contrast, are based on the detection by antibodies and are therefore faster, simpler and cheaper.

Until now it had not been possible to generate antibodies against patulin due to its small size and high reactivity. The method developed by the research groups of the Universitat de València and IATA is a novel approach, based on the high reactivity of patulin with thiols, and involves its previous derivation in the matrix itself without the need for isolation and purification procedures. This procedure, which has recently been patented, is the first immunoassay developed for this mycotoxin capable of determining its presence in food quickly and economically. 

Abraxis-Eurofins (EEUU) and R-Biopharm Rhône (Scotland) companies, world leaders in the field of immunodiagnostics in food, will exploit this patent, which will allow them to be the only suppliers of fast methods for the analysis of patulin in food. The objective is to commercialize the technology developed at the Universitat de València-IATA worldwide by using different immunochemical methods of analysis. 

References:

Abad-Fuentes A, Mercader JV, Duncan H, Abad-Somovilla A, Agulló C. Bioconjugados y anticuerpos para la inmunodetección asistida por derivatización de la micotoxina patulina. Patente P202030133 (2020).