An accurate method for antigen β-conglycinin detection in soybean meal

β-conglycinin is a major antigenic protein in soybeans that can cause allergy, diarrhea, and loss of appetite in young animals, but there are many drawbacks in the existing detection methods. Herein, we built an accurate and sensitive aptamer sensor to rapidly detect the β-conglycinin relying on the specific binding properties of β-conglycinin β subunit and its aptamer. The sensor has excellent performance in terms of sensitivity and detection efficiency that the detection range of β subunit is 7–58 nM, and the detection limit is 2.58 nM. Finally, the additional β subunit in soy milk was successfully verified using the sensor, demonstrating its plug and play properties for complicated conditions. All these are the evidences that aptamer sensor can be used as a novel detection tool for the quality control of soybean meal products.