Maximising antimicrobial screening from a single honey sample

This free-to-view whitepaper explains how to maximise antimicrobial screening from a single honey sample through multi-analytical determination on biochip arrays…

Antibiotics are often used in apiculture to treat bacterial diseases such as American and European Foulbrood. Although antimicrobial drugs are effective against these diseases, there are no Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs), meaning that any traces of antibiotics found in honey are not tolerated. The presence of antibiotics in honey is strictly controlled by European law and requires observance of the withdrawal period. Until the withdrawal period has elapsed, the final honey product cannot be used for human consumption. Although residues above the MRL should not occur, potential residues may still exist. Therefore, the availability of rapid, reliable and sensitive screening methods to monitor antibiotic drug residues is essential.

Biochip Array Technology (BAT) provides an excellent platform for the simultaneous screening of multiple antimicrobials from a single honey sample using miniaturized biochip based immunoassays. This increases the screening capacity and the output of test results and aims to reduce the number of samples requiring confirmation testing. Studies relating to the detection of antimicrobials in honey using BAT have been conducted, all of which state that Biochip Array Technology allows measurement of antimicrobials in honey at levels well below the established MRLs, and is comparable to results achieved for the confirmatory LC-MS/MS method.