Rapid screening of flonicamid residues in environmental and agricultural samples by a sensitive enzyme immunoassay

A fast and sensitive polyclonal antibody-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed for the analysis of flonicamid in environmental and agricultural samples. Two haptens of flonicamid differing in spacer arm length were synthesized and conjugated to proteins to be used as immunogens for the production of polyclonal antibodies. To obtain most sensitive combination of antibody/coating antigen, two antibodies were separately screened by homologous and heterologous assays. After optimization, the flonicamid ELISA showed that the 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50 value) was 3.86mgL−1, and the limit of detection (IC20 value) was 0.032mgL−1. There was no cross-reactivity to similar tested compounds. The recoveries obtained after the addition of standard flonicamid to the samples, including water, soil, carrot, apple and tomato, ranged from 79.3% to 116.4%. Moreover, the results of the ELISA for the spiked samples were largely consistent with the gas chromatography (R2=0.9891). The data showed that the proposed ELISA is an alternative tool for rapid, sensitive and accurate monitoring of flonicamid in environmental and agricultural samples. [Display omitted] •The antibody of flonicamid was obtained.•A high-throughput, selective and simple ELISA for flonicamid was developed.•The results of ELISA for the spiked samples were largely consistent with the gas chromatography method.•This methodology appeared to be useful as a screening method prior to flonicamid analysis.