Category Archives: mycotoxin

elisa, ergot alkaloid, lctech, mycotoxin, natural toxins, pickering laboratories

Analysis of Total Ergot Alkaloid Amount in Various Grain Samples by ELISA

By Dr. Frederik Wuppermann and Dr. Uwe Aulwurm

Introduction:

Ergot alkaloids are mycotoxins produced by fungi (Claviceps sp.) on various grain species with a highly toxic impact on the health of consumers (Figure 1). The toxins provoke symptoms summarized as ergotism.

ergot wheat

Figure 1: Sclerotia grown on crop

The toxins are characterized by two different isomers, which occur under different pH conditions, they are named –ines and –inines. The main toxins found are ergocristine, -inine, ergometrine, -inine, ergosine, -inine, ergocryptine, -inine, ergotamine, -inine, ergocornine, -inine. The assessment of toxin amount becomes necessary due to the toxic effects of ergot alkaloids. For this purpose an ELISA was developed to detect all ergot alkaloids in various crop material and the detected amounts of ergot alkaloids were correlated with LC-MS data.

 

 

Method

ergoread quick method
Figure 2.
ELISA procedure

The sample is extracted by 40/60 methanol / 0.25% phosphoric acid as described by Ware et al. 2000. After centrifugation the sample was diluted with sample dilution buffer and filtered again. The filtered sample was applied in the ELISA plate and compared with a standard solution (enclosed in the ErgoREAD kit). The enzyme immune reaction is performed as depicted in Figure 2.

 

 

Results:

Analysis of wheat samples:

analysis of wheat

 Analysis of Rye Samples:

analysis of rye

Comparative Analysis of Naturally Contaminated Samples:

The samples showed good correlation between 0 to 10 ppm, indicating that the ELISA is suitable for the screening of various crop material for the presence of ergot alkaloids. The partially over quantification in the comparative analysis could be due to the cross reactivity of the ELISA against various ergot alkaloids which were not monitored by the LC-MS or HPLC analysis. comparative analysis of naturally contaminated samples

Figure 3 cross reactivity of ErgoREADThe ELISA shows significant cross reactivity against various ergot alkaloids e.g. ergonovin (ergometrine or ergocristine) and can be used to determine the qualitative stuatus of a crop sample concernig the sum of ergot alkaloids.

 Conclusion:

The ErgoREAD ELISA is an appropriate tool for screening wheat, rye and triticale samples for presence of ergot alkaloids. The range of measurement is from 0 to 5 ppm. Due to the readout as the sum of all reactive ergot alkaloids, the cutoff for critical samples is 0.4 ppm. All shown ELISA samples are correlated with HPLC. The total amount of samples which need to undergo LC-MS analysis could be dramatically reduced.

More information about this kit and other Mycotoxin analysis products can be found on LCTech’s Website. The original poster can be downloaded here.

Pickering Laboratories is proud to bet the distributor for LCTech in North America. For more information about our long-time relationship with LCTech, check out our blog entry on Pickering’s Company & Product Offerings in 2013.

 

 

AcceCLEAN, aflatoxin, amino acid, Amino Acid Analysis, amino acids, antioxidants, AOAC, AOAC's Laboratory of the Year Award, artificial perspiration, carbamate, Chromatography, clean-up, column, deoxynivalenol, detector, dietary supplements, DON, Dr. Pickering, elisa, eluvac, ergot alkaloid, freestyle, GARD, glyphosate, GPC, Guard, HPLC, immunoaffinity cleanup, Multi-residue Mycotoxin Analysis, mycotoxin, natural toxins, New Products, Ninhydrin, ochratoxin, paralytic shellfish toxin, Physiological Fluids, pickering laboratories, pinnacle, pinnacle pcx, Post-column, post-column derivatization, psp, sweat, syringe pump, Trione, UVE, vector

Pickering Laboratories in 2013

1 Comment

By Wendy Rasmussen

In recent years, we have released several new products and applications, and with still more on the horizon, it occurred to me that now would be a great time to summarize the Pickering of today – our mindset and our wide variety of products & applications.

Acai Berries
Acai Berries

No longer are we simply the “Post-Column Company”. We are the “Automated-Sample Antioxidants” company.  Think of us as the new “super fruit.” The Acai berry, or perhaps the new Chia Seeds (incidentally, we do have a post-column application for the identification & quantitation of  Antioxidants in a variety of matrices).

We are still very active, and we as a company plan to be here for many years to come. We are still the company founded on chemistry and a desire to to teach, to spread our technical expertise, to support our customers.

It’s been a few years now since Pickering began distributing and supporting our LCTech Product line.  The products have shown an ever increasing interest here in the US and in Canada (our official Sales Territory for this product line). We are very proud to offer these products and we hope we can develop it further in the future.

Historically, we have provided the back-end of an analysis (post-column derivatization). Nowadays, we can provide the front-end of analysis as well (the sample-cleanup).

In thinking about our product offerings, I realized that a simple list does not effectively show the scope of the products we have to offer in 2013 – primarily because we have a lot of overlap between products and product lines.  We’re not a vertical company in that regard.  I suppose one could say our product offerings are more circular in that many do not fall into a single distinct category.  I am a very visual person, and for me, a Venn diagram and our overall “product scale” really helped to understand and clarify our products:

Venn Diagram of Pickering Laboratories
Venn Diagram of Pickering Laboratories
General "Product Scale" for Pickering Offerings
General “Product Scale” for Pickering Offerings
For those of who like lists, you can find one Here, on Pickering’s website, and on LCTech’s Website

For any Questions, please feel free to contact us:

Pickering Laboratories, Inc.
Mountain View, California
Email: sales@pickeringlabs.com
Phone: (direct) 650-694-6700 or (toll-free) 800-654-3330

 

Image of Acai Berries:  http://acaiberryeducation.com/

aflatoxin, Amino Acid Analysis, carbamate, chromatographic specialties, Chromatography, clean-up, eluvac, freestyle, glyphosate, GPC, herbal products, HPLC, immunoaffinity cleanup, lctech, Multi-residue Mycotoxin Analysis, mycotoxin, natural products, natural toxins, New Products, Ninhydrin, ochratoxin, pickering laboratories, pinnacle pcx, Pittcon, post-column derivatization, spe

Pickering Exhibits at Pittcon 2013

This year’s Pittcon was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from March 17-21, 2013.

view of philly from the museum On display were Pinnacle PCX, EluVAC, and a video of the FREESTYLE Automated Sample Preparation Instrument.  The video was a new technique for us, and it was well received.

The video in our booth was a combination of the separate videos for each module of the FREESTYLE Automated Sample Preparation Instrument. You can view the originals here (they are very informative, and we highly recommend them): FREESTYLE VIDEOS

Wendy, Mike and David enjoyed visiting with existing and future customers, as well as our distributors from around the world, including our Canadian distributor, Chromatographic Specialties.

Before the show opened, we had the opportunity to explore the city.  Philadelphia is one of our oldest cities and is full of history and landmarks. Some of this editor’s favorites include Independence Hall and the surrounding neighborhoods, and the Art Museum (see more below).  On this trip, we explored Reading Terminal Market, and sampled that famous cuisine, the Philly Cheese steak Sandwich. I’m told it is not truly a Philly Steak sandwich unless you have it with Cheez Whiz. Any type of real cheese doesn’t count. I made that mistake on my first trip to Philadelphia, and the man behind the counter let me know it!  I wasn’t about to make that mistake again:

philly cheesesteak

The Philadelphia Museum of Art is known for its amazing collection of artwork (viewed on a previous visit), but is also made famous by the scene of Sylvester Stallone running up the stairs in the movie Rocky.  Since the author of this entry happened to be training for a race, she decided that a little cold wasn’t going to stop her. So she put on her iPod (Rocky Theme playing, of course), and ran from the hotel to the top of the steps and back (total distance: about 2.8miles).

view from the bottom

wendy philly top of steps

wendy rockyOn the return to the hotel, I came across a version of the LOVE sculpture, by American Artist Robert Indiana. I always thought it was was much bigger…

love sculpture

 

For those of you interested in learning more about the sculpture, click HERE

If you’re ever in Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Museum of Art is definitely worth a visit.

But if you can’t make the trip to Philadelphia, you could also stay home and watch Rocky…

aflatoxin, AOAC, clean-up, eluvac, freestyle, immunoaffinity cleanup, mycotoxin, pinnacle pcx, post-column derivatization, UVE

Aflatoxins in Edible Oils Collaborative Study Published

Pickering Laboratories, Inc was one of several laboratories who participated in a collaborative study, the results of which were published in the November-December issue of Journal Of AOAC International.

Here is the reference:

Determination of Aflatoxins B1, B2, G1, and G2 in Olive Oil, Peanut Oil, and Sesame Oil using Immunoaffinity Column Cleanup, Post Column Derivatization and Liquid Chromatography/Fluorescence Detection: Collaborative Study.

Authors: Bao, Lei; Liang, Chengzhu; Trucksess, Mary W.; Xu, Yanli; Lv, Ning; Wu, Zhenxing; Jing, Ping; Fry, Fred S.

Source: Journal of AOAC International, Volume 95, Number 6, November-December 2012, pp. 1689-1700(12)

Participating laboratories could use Photochemical Derivatization or electrochemical derivatization.  The sample clean-up was performed using Immunoaffinity clean-up columns.

Pickering has many great tools for the analysis of Aflatoxins, including the UVE Photochemical Reactor, our Pinnacle PCX, immunoaffinity clean-up columns, HPLC columns, and column handling equipment such as the FREESTYLE SPE, AcceCLEAN, and EluVac.

freestyle, GPC, immunoaffinity cleanup, mycotoxin, Pittcon, spe

Visit Pickering at Pittcon 2013

We will be displaying our equipment at this year’s Pittcon in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from March 18-21, 2013. Be sure to stop by:  Booth 2533

We will have our Pinnacle PCX and Vector PCX post-column derivatization equipment on display as well as our Mycotoxin Analysis Products. In addition, we will some new videos to highlight the latest in our Automated Sample Preparation instruments, in particular the  FREESTYLE SPE system.

Wendy, David and Mike will be in Philadelphia. Please stop by. We would love to talk with you.
P1020659.
antioxidants, AOAC, herbal products, mycotoxin, natural products, natural toxins, pickering laboratories, supplyside

Pickering exhibits in Las Vegas

-By Mike Gottschalk

Las Vegas, Nevada – Oct. 1 – 5 was the site of the AOAC international show this year.  Pickering Laboratories participated as usual in this important International event. “We see many of our customers and distributors from all over the world at this show” said Wendy Rasmussen, sales manager Pickering Laboratories. “We get to show our new products and catch up with them with new developments in their business.”

Pickering Laboratories presented Posters of our new applications Chrome VI and Antioxidants in foods. The herbal supplement market is a growing market and with FDA guidance, more concerned with testing for quality in their products. “We continue to develop methods in matrices important to this market including the antioxidants, Aflatoxins, Amino Acids and others”  said Laszlo Torma, technical liaison for Pickering Laboratories.

The AOAC international show enables laboratories and suppliers to be involved in the mission of creating analytical methods for today’s most pressing testing challenges. Pickering Laboratories is an award winning member of several committees and laboratory collaborations to further the goal of analytical excellence.

Las Vegas, Nevada – Nov. 6-9 – Yes! Las Vegas Again! This time for the annual Supply Side West show.  1,800 vendors and 30,000 participants meet to network and explore resources in this, the largest gathering of Herbal supplement suppliers and vendors.  Now that the FDA enforcements are increasing, many Herbal supplement manufacturers are working hard to improve their analytical testing capabilities and Pickering Laboratories is there to help.  “With several methods for herbal supplement testing and extensive experience in the food safety industry we can offer experience and laboratory equipment support to the herbal supplement manufactures” – said Mike Gottschalk, VP Marketing, Pickering Laboratories.

Laszlo Torma enjoys the sights and sounds of “Venice”

Pickering Laboratories is a member of the “American Herbal Products Association” and member of the Laboratories Methods Committee for AHPA. The collaboration with AHPA and the Supply Side West show have provided valuable insight to the needs of the Supplement community and the unique capabilities Pickering Laboratories can offer this market.

aflatoxin, deoxynivalenol, DON, HPLC, immunoaffinity cleanup, Multi-residue Mycotoxin Analysis, mycotoxin, ochratoxin, pinnacle pcx, post-column derivatization, UVE, vomitoxin

On-Demand Webinar: Rugged and Sensitive Analysis of Mycotoxins in Food Matrices

If you missed the live webinar last summer, you can still hear the Webinar On-Demand! Just click on the links below to launch the presentation.
On August 14th, 2012, in collaboration with Thermo Scientific, Pickering Laboratories participated in a free webinar titled: Rugged and Sensitive Analysis of Mycotoxins in Food Matrices
 
The webinar was hosted by LC/GC Magazine and Thermo Scientific.
 
Live Webcast: Tuesday, August, 14, 2012 at 8:00 am PDT; 11:00 am EDT; 15:00 GMT

Register Free at http://www.chromatographyonline.com/foodmatrices
EVENT OVERVIEW
Mycotoxins are found in a staggering range of matrices, from grains to fruits, spices and nuts to animal feed. They are of major concern for their negative impact on the worldwide economy from product revenue losses, their toxicity to animals and humans, and their persistence throughout multiple food processing steps.Learn how Pickering Laboratories addresses this challenge and meets guidelines set by the FDA using sensitive and rugged Thermo Scientific UHPLC methods to effectively detect Aflatoxins as well as other key classes of Mycotoxins. These easy-to-use methods utilize immunoaffinity clean-up and post-column derivatization.

Also join us to discover the benefits of a Thermo Scientific LC-MS/MS method using automated Turbulent Flow sample extraction to separate Mycotoxins from complex food matrices. A highly efficient solution used in high throughput laboratories that eliminates manual sample preparation, improves method reliability and drives down cost per sample.

Who Should Attend
•
Analytical Chemists
•
Lab Managers
•
Food Science Researchers
Presenters
Wendy E. Rasmussen
Wendy E. Rasmussen
Technical Expert
Food, Agricultural and Environmental Markets
Pickering Laboratories
Markus M. Martin
Markus M. Martin
Solutions Manager LC/MS
Thermo Fisher Scientific
Dr. Yang Shi
Dr. Yang Shi
Senior Applications Scientist
LC/MS Applications
Thermo Fisher Scientific
Laura Bush
Moderator:
Laura Bush
Editorial Director
LCGC North America
Presented by
Sponsored by
LC/GC Logo
Thermo Logo