Development of a Simple, Fast, and Cost-Effective Nanobased Immunoassay Method for Detecting Norovirus in Food Samples

• Published in: ACS omega Vol. 5; no. 21; pp. 12162 - 12165
• Main Authors: Alhadrami, Hani A., Al-Amer, Saleh, Aloraij, Yumna, Alhamlan, Fatimah, Chinnappan, Raja, Abu-Salah, Khalid M., Almatrrouk, Shaihana, Zourob, Mohammed M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: American Chemical Society 02-06-2020
• ISSN: 2470-1343; 2470-1343
• DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.0c00502

This
study presents a quick, low-cost, and easy technique for the
detection of norovirus in several food samples, including cucumber,
lettuce, and chicken. The developed sandwich immunoassay method depends
on employing nanotechnology for the detection step. Lactoferrin immobilized
on activated Q-tips cotton swabs was used as a general capturing reagent
to bind viruses from the sample surface. The cotton swabs were then
submerged in a gold nanoparticle solution, which had previously decorated
with a specific antibody for noroviruses. Positive samples retained
the red color of the gold nanoparticles on the surface of Q-tips,
even after washing, while the negative control samples easily lost
their color through washing. The results confirmed that the developed
assay has superior sensitivity and selectivity with a LOD between
10 and 53 pfu/mL for all tested samples. In light of the difficulty,
complexity, and high cost of the methods recently used for detecting
viruses in food samples, this method presents a promising reliable
technique that can be employed for the rapid detection of norovirus
in food samples with an acceptable accuracy.