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Agricultural products are frequently contaminated by mycotoxins; thus, the accurate detection of mycotoxins is important to food safety. Zearalenone (ZEN), a mycotoxin produced by certain Fusarium and Gibberella species, is a group III carcinogen. We developed a universal surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) aptasensor for the detection of ZEN. The SERS biosensor consists of two functional nanomaterials: sulfhydryl (SH)-ZEN aptamer complementary DNA-modified Fe 3 O 4 @Au was used as a capture probe and SH-ZEN aptamer-modified Au@Ag core-shell nanoparticles served as reporter probes. In the absence of ZEN, the highest Raman signal was obtained owing to the SERS effects of Fe 3 O 4 @Au and Au@Ag core-shell nanoparticles. Conversely, the addition of ZEN triggered the release of Au@Ag core-shell nanoparticles from Fe 3 O 4 @Au, leading to a decrease in SERS intensity after magnetic separation. Hybridization of the ZEN aptamer and its complementary strand generated a strong SERS signal from the reporter probe. Moreover, preferential binding of the ZEN aptamer to ZEN was observed. The signal intensity in SERS decreased linearly when the capture probes released the reporter. For ZEN detection, a linear range from 0.005 to 500 ng mL−1, with an R2 of 0.9981, was obtained. The detection limit was 0.001 ng mL−1. The SERS aptasensor showed excellent performance for analytical applications with real-world samples (beer and wine). This study presents a new model for the detection of mycotoxins based on simple changes in aptamers. [Display omitted] • Detection of mycotoxins is important to overcome food contamination. • SERS aptasensor was developed to detect zearalenone, a group III carcinogen. • SH-cDNA-modified Fe 3 O 4 @Au as capture probe; SH-Apt-modified Au@Ag as reporter probe. • Wide linear range of 0.005–500 ng mL−1 for detecting zearalenone. • Novel model for the detection of mycotoxins to guarantee food safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]