Determination of Aflatoxin B1 in Lotus Seed by High Performance Liquid Chromatography with Aptamer Affinity Column for Purification and Enrichment

An aptamer affinity column (AAC) was applied to specific identification and enrichment of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1). Aptamer was used as a novel recognition element for the target with high affinity and strong specificity. By optimizing the loading of organic solvent, volume of loading and washing conditions of AFB1 in the sample, maximum sample capacity of AFB1 AAC was (334.6 ± 18.2) ng. Meanwhile, the AAC could be reused at least twenty times. The content of AFB1 lotus seeds was analyzed by photo chemical reactor for enhanced high-performance liquid chromatography combined with fluorescence detection (HPLC-PCD-FLD) combined with the AAC clean-up, with an LOD of 0.05 ng/mL and excellent recoveries in the range of 91.8% to 108.6%. This work provided a new method for the enrichment and purification of trace toxins in complex matrices such as food, agricultural products and traditional Chinese medicines.