Molecular imprinted electrochemical sensor for ovalbumin detection based on boronate affinity and signal amplification approach

•An ultrasensitive OVA sensor is constructed based on a signal amplification strategy.•The sensor possesses good stability and reusability, with a LOD of 3 fg/mL.•Separation and detection of OVA in the real sample is realized with good selectivity.•This method provides a strategy for other allergic protein detection in food. Ovalbumin (OVA), a class of glycoproteins, is the main allergen in hen egg white that often causes allergies in humans, especially in babies. Therefore, it is pivotal to be able to detect and separate OVA. This work presents an ingenious sandwich-structured magnetic molecular imprinted electrochemical sensor for OVA detection by utilizing boronate affinity and signal amplification strategy. With anti-OVA antibody-modified gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) as amplifiers, the imprinted cavities in the probe could capture protein to form a sandwich structure. Due to its specific recognition of antibody and molecular imprinted polymers and the signal amplification of AuNPs, the sensor had good selectivity and sensitivity toward OVA and a low detection limit of 3.0 fg/mL. The sensor also had excellent stability and could satisfactorily detect OVA in real red wine samples.