Metamaterial-enhanced SERS substrates for ultra-trace detection of mycotoxins in grain supplies from Andijan warehouses

Mycotoxin contamination of stored grain poses a chronic food safety risk in Central Asia, where climatic variability and fragmented storage infrastructure complicate routine monitoring. This study reports the design and application of metamaterial-enhanced surface-enhanced Raman scattering substrates for ultra-trace detection of major mycotoxins in grain supplies from Andijan warehouses. A planar gold metamaterial with tailored plasmonic resonances in the visible range was combined with hierarchical nanostructuring to maximise local electromagnetic field enhancement at analyte binding sites. Analytical performance was evaluated for aflatoxin B1, ochratoxin A and deoxynivalenol in spiked wheat extracts, and benchmarked against conventional roughened metal substrates and reference chromatographic methods. Field-deployable protocols were then applied to composite samples from public and private warehouses, focusing on limits of detection relevant to prevailing regulatory standards. The results demonstrate that metamaterial-enhanced surfaceenhanced Raman scattering enables rapid, label-free and solvent-efficient screening of mycotoxins at concentrations well below maximum tolerated levels.

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