Primary screening of relatively less allergenic wheat varieties

Since the number of wheat-allergic patients has been increasing in recent years, less allergenic wheat varieties are socially demanded. The aim of this study was to primarily screen 324 varieties of wheat picked up from various parts of the world. Prior to the screening, the inhibition ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) was examined with major wheat allergens (glutenin, gliadin and alpha-amylase inhibitor). As a result, the patient's IgE antibodies used in this assay reacted to these three allergens, and thereby turned out to be suitable for the primary screening for the less allergenic wheat varieties. Thus, the allergenicity of each wheat sample was measured by direct ELISA using the sole patient's serum as an IgE source and 'Aoba Komugi' as a control (a value of 1.0). The mean +/- SD of all kinds was 1.14 +/- 0.37. Among them, 'CM32859' (Mexico) gave the lowest value (0.38). Several other varieties, such as 'Einkorn' (Unknown), 'Iliniaza' (Ecuador), 'Hsin Mai 2' (China), 'Italy 1' (Italy) and so on, also serve as candidates for the less allergenic varieties. More detailed secondary screening will lead to a finding of the less allergenic wheat varieties for wheat-allergic patients, because these varieties are expected to become mother plants for breeding.