Improved Sensitivity of Allergen Detection by Immunoaffinity LC-MS/MS Using Ovalbumin as a Case Study

Area of Science:

• Food Science
• Analytical Chemistry
• Immunology

Background:

• Food allergies pose significant health risks, necessitating accurate allergen detection in food products.
• Current methods like ELISA can yield false negatives due to food processing affecting allergen recognition.
• Mass spectrometry methods offer processing resilience but often lack sensitivity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel immunoaffinity LC-MS/MS technique for detecting the egg allergen Gal d 2.
• To assess the method's sensitivity and robustness against food processing.
• To provide a reliable alternative for allergen detection in complex food matrices.

Main Methods:

• Development of an immunoaffinity LC-MS/MS assay targeting the egg allergen Gal d 2.
• Validation using incurred cookie material fortified with whole egg powder.
• Comparative analysis with traditional ELISA and Western blot techniques.

Main Results:

• The developed immunoaffinity LC-MS/MS method demonstrated sensitivity comparable to ELISA tests.
• Western blot experiments suggested the method is resilient to food processing effects.
• The technique successfully detected Gal d 2 in processed food samples.

Conclusions:

• Immunoaffinity LC-MS/MS offers a sensitive and reliable approach for detecting egg allergens in food.
• This method overcomes limitations of traditional ELISA, particularly concerning food processing.
• It presents a valuable alternative for ensuring food safety and protecting allergic individuals.