Measurement of bovine IgG by indirect competitive ELISA as a means of detecting milk adulteration

The aim of this work was to develop an assay capable of detecting adulteration of high premium milk with milk from cheaper sources. An indirect, competitive ELISA was developed for the rapid detection of cows' milk in the milk of goat, sheep, and buffalo. The assay uses a monoclonal antibody produced against bovine IgG. This antibody recognizes a species-specific epitope on the heavy chain of both bovine IgG1 and IgG2. A peroxidase-conjugated anti-mouse IgG antibody was used to detect bound monoclonal antibody and subsequent enzymatic conversion of substrate resulted in clear differences in absorbance when assaying different mixtures of milks adulterated with cows' milk. Once optimized, the ELISA was found to be highly specific. Detection limits of the assay are 1.0 microg/mL of bovine IgG, or 0.1% (vol/vol) adulteration with cows' milk. The assay was highly reproducible (CV < 10%) and performed equally well when used to detect bovine IgG in mixtures with the 3 types of milk tested. The ELISA performance makes it suitable for development as a kit, for use in the field as a high throughput screening ELISA.