Development of QCM Biosensor with Specific Cow Milk Protein Antibody for Candidate Milk Adulteration Detection

Abstract

Adulteration of goat milk is usually done using cow’s milk product. Cow milk is used as it is widely available and its price is cheaper compared to goat milk. This paper shows a development of candidate tools for milk adulteration using cow milk. A quartz crystal microbalance immunosensor was developed using commercial crystal resonator and polyclonal antibody specific to cow milk protein. A specific protein at 208 KDa is found only in cow milk and does not exist in goat milk. The existence of this protein can be used as an indicator of cow milk content in a target solution. To detect the PSS 208 kDa protein, antibody specific to the PSS 208 was developed. The purified antibody was immobilized on top of the sensor surface on a polystyrene layer. The fraction of the immobilized antibody on the sensor was found at 1.5% of the given antibody. Using a static reaction cell, the developed immunosensor could detect the specific cow milk protein in buffer solution. The detection limit is 1 ppm. A linear relationship between frequency change and specific protein of cow milk concentration is found from a concentration of 1 ppm to 120 ppm.