Direct surface plasmon resonance immunosensing of pyraclostrobin residues in untreated fruit juices

A surface plasmon resonance (SPR) immunoassay for on-line detection of the strobilurin fungicide pyraclostrobin in untreated fruit juices is presented. The analysis of pyraclostrobin residues is accomplished in apple, grape, and cranberry samples by monitoring the recognition events occurring separately in a two-channel home-made SPR biosensor. Covalent coupling of the analyte derivative results in a reversible method, enabling more than 80 measurements on the same sensor surface. Optimization of the immunoassay conditions provides limits of detection as low as 0.16 mu g L-1. The selectivity and reproducibility of the analysis is ensured by studying both non-specific interactions with unrelated compounds and inter-assay coefficients of variation. Excellent recovery ranging from 98 to 103 % was achieved by a simple 1:5 dilution of fruit juice with assay buffer before the analysis. The lack of previous cleaning and homogenization procedures reduces the analysis time of a single food sample to only 25 min, including the regeneration cycle.