biostudies-literatureUnknown22Costa ADTBanco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e SocialFoodborne outbreaks caused by parasites have long been a public health issue. Among the available contamination detection methods, qPCR is one of the most sensitive and specific. However, it can be cumbersome and error-prone, if used by unexperienced users. Moreover, qPCR reagents usually require freezer temperatures for transportation and storage. We present a gelified reaction format that allows the reagents to be stored at 2-8 °C for up to 90 days without losing performance. The gelification process eliminates most operator mistakes during reaction setup, and renders the qPCR plates ready-to-use. The new reaction makeup was evaluated using artificially contaminated samples of distinct food matrices for sensitivity, specificity, repeatability, reproducibility, and stability. Samples consFood and waterborne parasitologye00111https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC7930119biostudies-literatureReady-to-use qPCR for detection of <i>Cyclospora cayetanensis</i> or <i>Trypanosoma cruzi</i> in food matrices.PMC7930119Pereira-Chioccola VLCosta ADTda Silva AJRampazzo RCPPinto RSMurphy HRKrieger MATassi WFarias ABMattos ECJacomasso TMarciano MAMfalseReady-to-use qPCR for detection of <i>Cyclospora cayetanensis</i> or <i>Trypanosoma cruzi</i> in food matrices.Foodborne outbreaks caused by parasites have long been a public health issue. Among the available contamination detection methods, qPCR is one of the most sensitive and specific. However, it can be cumbersome and error-prone, if used by unexperienced users. Moreover, qPCR reagents usually require freezer temperatures for transportation and storage. We present a gelified reaction format that allows the reagents to be stored at 2-8 °C for up to 90 days without losing performance. The gelification process eliminates most operator mistakes during reaction setup, and renders the qPCR plates ready-to-use. The new reaction makeup was evaluated using artificially contaminated samples of distinct food matrices for sensitivity, specificity, repeatability, reproducibility, and stability. Samples cons2021-01-01T00:00:00Z2021 Mar2026-04-07T23:27:13.681Z2021-03-09T08:18:11ZS-EPMC79301193368148910.1016/j.fawpar.2021.e00111