Development of a Homemade Sandwich ELISA Kit for Detection of Raw and Heated Rat Meat Extracts

Abstract

This study focuses on the development of a homemade sandwich ELISA for the detection of rat meat components, employing locally produced polyclonal antibodies specific to rat meat as capture antibodies. These are paired with commercially available secondary antibodies for signal detection. The assay demonstrated the ability to identify the presence of raw rat meat and rat meat heated at 70°C for 15 minutes, with detection limits of up to 1:10,000 dilution (2.5 μg/mL) and 1:1,000 dilution (25 μg/mL), respectively. However, the assay was not able to detect rat meat heated at 100°C, likely due to heat-induced antigen denaturation. Despite this limitation, the ELISA system shows promise for further refinement and application in food authentication, particularly for detecting contamination from wild animal-derived ingredients such as rat meat, thereby contributing to food safety assurance and public health protection.