Yohimbine is a prohibited or restricted ingredient in food supplements in many regulatory markets, including the EU and UK. It is believed to be an aphrodisiac. Yohimbine (either undeclared or labelled) has accounted for a disproportionate number of regulatory seizures and supplement recalls over the past few years. There can be a food safety risk.
In this study (purchase required) the authors developed and novel binding assay for yohimbine, and worked it up to proof of concept in a rapid test kit (lateral flow device).
The authors used computational-chemistry-based prediction to design haptens to then generate a high-affinity monoclonal yohimbine antibody Yohi-4A7. They then used this antibody to construct a gold nanoparticle-labelled immunochromatographic assay (ICA).
They report that the ICA presented cut off values of 5.0 ng/mL for aphrodisiac liquor and 5.0 ng/g for capsules, with detection limits of 0.56 ng/mL and 0.88 ng/g, quantification limits of 1.96 ng/mL and 2.58 ng/g, and satisfactory accuracy reflected by recovery rates ranging from 96.0 to 120.7%, respectively. Analysis of 26 blind samples using the ICA, followed by comparison with liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry results, revealed strong concordance between the two techniques
