Agricultural Products & Crops Testing

Wang, Ting, et al. Scientific Reports 7.1 (2017): 4348.

Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus are well-known producers of aflatoxins, frequently contaminating agricultural products such as peanuts, corn, rice, and their derived products. The toxins produced by these fungi can pose significant health risks and substantial economic losses due to the spoilage of agricultural products caused by the fungi. Therefore, the detection and prevention of Aspergillus contamination or the reduction of aflatoxin levels in many agricultural products, especially grains, is extremely important.

Using a sandwich ELISA based on nanobodies and polyclonal antibodies, this method can selectively and effectively detect Aspergillus strains that produce aflatoxins in agricultural products. This approach may help detect them before they mature to the point of producing high concentrations of aflatoxins.

Yu, Y., You, J., Sun, Z., Li, G., Ji, Z., Zhang, S., & Zhou, X. (2019). Analytica chimica acta, 1055, 44-55.

As a typical representative, organophosphorus pesticides (OPPs) are commonly used for pest control. Humans can be affected even by low concentrations of OPPs through dietary intake. Based on their mechanism of action related to the inhibition of acetylcholinesterase, they can cause weakness or muscle paralysis in cases of acute exposure, and chronic exposure may affect neurological development and growth. Therefore, the development of a reliable analytical method for the determination of OPP residues in agricultural products seems to be highly necessary and important.

Chemically Induced Isotope Labeling coupled with High-Performance Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry (CIL-HPLC-MS/MS) is an effective method for the quantitative analysis of target molecules. This method can quantify the residues of organophosphorus thioester pesticides (OPTPs) in agricultural products by measuring the cleavage products of thiol (CP-thiol) compounds.

Sharma, H., Saha, A., Mishra, A. K., Rai, M. K., & Deb, M. K. (2022). Journal of the Indian Chemical Society, 99(7), 100483.

Glyphosate products are primarily used before traditional crop cultivation and after planting of glyphosate-resistant genetically modified crops. Gradually, glyphosate is also used as a "harvest aid" for drying. Furthermore, they are widely used between trees in forestry and orchards. The various adverse effects of glyphosate, including mutagenicity, teratogenicity, and being one of the most carcinogenic, make the determination of its residues in environmental samples very important for monitoring health hazards and pollution.

A novel spectrophotometric technique has been created to detect glyphosate in environmental and agricultural samples with high sensitivity. The process involves diazotization, followed by the reaction of glyphosate with p-dimethylaminobenzaldehyde. The resulting compound displays a characteristic absorption peak at 420 nm. Furthermore, the method was evaluated for its selectivity towards glyphosate in the presence of other metal ions and pesticides.