Competitive fluorescent immunosensor based on catalytic hairpin self-assembly for multiresidue detection of organophosphate pesticides in agricultural products

Abstract

Simple and rapid multiresidue trace detection of organophosphate pesticides (OPs) is extremely important for various reasons, including food safety, environmental monitoring, and national health. Here, a catalytic hairpin self-assembly (CHA)-based competitive fluorescent immunosensor was developed to detect OPs in agricultural products, involving enabled dual signal amplification followed by a CHA reaction. The developed method could detect 0.01-50 ng/mL triazophos, parathion, and chlorpyrifos, with limits of detection (LODs) of 0.012, 0.0057, and 0.0074 ng/mL, respectively. The spiked recoveries of samples measured using this assay ranged from 82.8 % to 110.6 %, with CV values ranging between 5.5 % and 18.5 %. This finding suggests that the CHA-based competitive fluorescent immunosensor is a reliable and accurate method for detecting OPs in agricultural products. The results correlated well with those obtained from the liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method, indicating that the CHA-based biosensor is able to accurately detect OPs and can be used as a reliable alternative to the LC-MS/MS method. Additionally, the CHA-based biosensor is simpler and faster than LC-MS/MS, which makes it a more practical and cost-effective option for the detection of OPs. In summary, the CHA-based competitive fluorescent immunosensor can be considered a promising approach for trace analysis and multiresidue determination of pesticides, which can open up new horizons in the fields of food safety, environmental monitoring, and national health.

Keywords: Catalyzed hairpin self-assembly; Fluorescent immunosensors; Gold nanoparticles; Multiresidue detection; Organophosphate pesticides.