There is increased interest in the investigation and implementation of rapid screening methods for detection of pesticide residues. This study reports development of an immunostrip test for thiabendazole detection based on indirect competitive principle using carbon particles as a label. Nitrocellulose membrane strip was coated with a thiabendazole-protein conjugate in the defined test zone. In flow of an antibody-carbon complex and thiabendazole along the strip, the intensity of black colour formed in the test line reflected the thiabendazole concentration and semi-quantitative estimation could be carried out visually. The optimized test was accomplished within 10 min and the visual detection limit was achieved 0.25 ng mL(-1) of standard sample. Moreover, immunostrip was evaluated quantitatively using scanning densitometry. Based on standard curve, the detection limit of the proposed test was as low as 0.08+/-0.03 ng mL(-1) with an IC(50) value of 0.60+/-0.08 ng mL(-1) and a linear working range of 0.11-4.13 ng mL(-1). Results of testing precision, stability, and specificity demonstrated that the assay provided a reliable performance. This immunostrip was applied to analysis of spiked fruit juices in range of 0.05-5 mg L(-1). Matrix interferences were avoided by simple dilution of samples. Both visual and instrumental evaluations indicated a good agreement with results obtained by ELISA. Recoveries from juices were from 81.9 to 123.6% and relative standard deviations ranged from 9.9 to 19.3%. The developed strip offers potential as a useful rapid and simple method for screening of thiabendazole in fruit juices at levels far below the maximum residue limits.

Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology Faculty of Food and Biochemical Technology Institute of Chemical Technology Technická 3 16628 Prague Czech Republic

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