[Detection of fish protein in food products by lateral flow immunoassay]

The major fish allergen is parvalbumin, a sarcoplasmic protein. In this study, a novel lateral flow immunoassay for the detection of fish protein in food products was developed using a polyclonal antibody raised against Pacific mackerel Scomber japonicus parvalbumin. The proposed lateral flow immunoassay showed high reactivity to various fish parvalbumins, but the reactivity to bullfrog parvalbumin was very low. The detection limit of the immunoassay for fish parvalbumin was estimated to be 2.0 μg protein/g, which matches the sensitivity required in the current Japanese food labeling system. Furthermore, the lateral flow immunoassay could detect fish parvalbumin without being affected by food matrices and was applicable even to heat-denatured parvalbumin. These results showed that the lateral flow immunoassay developed in this study is specific to fish parvalbumin, and should be useful as a rapid detection method for fish protein in processed food products.