Dummy-template imprinted bovine serum albumin for extraction of zearalenone

Abstract The aim of this study is to develop molecularly imprinted protein specific to zearalenone (ZEN). The primary idea of our study was to replace the toxic template (ZEN) with dummy template (4-hydroxicoumarin) during the synthesis of imprinted proteins (IPs). The choice of the dummy template was made based on the results of comprehensive evaluation that included a combination of blind docking and molecular dynamic simulations. Furthermore, the influence of protonation and purification conditions to IPs sorption capacity was studied. 3D fluorescence spectroscopy was used for monitoring the process of bovine serum albumin (BSA) imprinting. The modified purification approach allowed reducing the eluent volume and purification time by approximately 300 and 48 times. . The imprinted BSA was then used to produce bioinorganic sorbent (IPs-BIS) based on SiO2 nanoparticles, that, as far as we know, have never been described before. The synthesized IPs-BIS were successfully applied as ZEN sorbents in model solutions (Qmax = 1.70±0.15 mg g−1, imprinting factor = 2.5) and artificially contaminated wheat extract (Qmax = 2.24±0.02 mg g−1) confirmed by HPLC–UV determination. We believe that our method can be used for mycotoxins monitoring in animal feeds and foodstuff.