AFB1 recognition from liver tissue via AFB1 imprinted magnetic nanoparticles

•Aflatoxin B1 is the most potent human carcinogen mycotoxin found in food and feed.•High adsorption capacity can be obtain by molecularly imprinted nanoparticles.•Magnetic separation enables one-step separation without the need for centrifugation.•Selective separation of aflatoxin B1 was achieved. Aflatoxins (AFs) are produced mainly by Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus and aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) is one of the most toxic aflatoxins with its carcinogenic property. AFB1 recognition from samples is very important and PHEMA based AFB1 imprinted magnetic nanoparticles (magAFB1-MIPs) were synthesized for the selective AFB1 recognition from liver tissue. The AFB1-MIPs were synthesized in different mole ratios and NIPs were synthesized for control. Characterization studies of magAFB1-MIPs and NIPs were carried out by swelling tests, surface area measurements, scanning electron microscopy and particle size analysis. The surface area was found as 117 m2/g and the size of the nanoparticles were found as 483 nm in diameter. The percentage yield of polymerization was calculated as 98 % and the template (AFB1) removal ratio from the magAFB1-MIPs was calculated as 91 %. The maximum adsorbtion capacities were calculated as 427.57 ng g−1 for magAFB1-MIPs and 44.6 ng g−1 for magNIPs. Selectivity tests showed that magAFB1-MIPs adsorb AFB1 1.74, 4.40, 2.46 times selective than that of AFB2, AFG1 and AFG2 molecules, respectively. AFB1 removal amount from AFB1 spiked liver tissue was satisfactory and recorded as 10.4 ng g−1 and 54.8 ng g−1 for 2 ng g−1 and 10 ng g−1 spiked liver tissue samples, respectively. AFB1 adsorption amount decrease was found negligible for 10 consecutive adsorption–desorption repeats in reusability study.