Abstract: In this study, we describe the advantages and disadvantages of direct competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (dc-ELISA) and indirect competitive ELISA (idc-ELISA) and ELISA methods for the detection of neomycin. Anti-neomycin polyclonal antibodies were prepared and used to detect neomycin by dc-ELISA and idc-ELISA. The cross-reaction rates of prepared anti-neomycin polyclonal antibodies with gentamincin and kanamycin were 2.04% and 0.02%, respectively, and with ampicillin, erythromycin and tetracycline all less than 0.01%. The accuracy and recovery of idc-ELISA were tested with an intra-plate error of less than 4%, an inter-plate error of less than 11% and a recovery between 135.5% and 191.3%. The detection limits of dc-ELISA and idc-ELISA were 28.58 ng/mL and 51.74 ng/mL, respectively, both of which were below the national maximum residue limit (MRL) of 500μg/kg. Therefore, a dc-ELISA method and an idc-ELISA method to detect neomycin have successfully established. Further, the idc-ELISA method where the working conditions were better optimized can be used for the development of neomycin test kit.

Key words: neomycin, polyclonal antibodies, competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), method establishment