Pistachio nuts (Pistacia vera) have been consumed by past and present-day civilizations because of their organoleptic characteristics and potential health benefits. However, they can also produce moderate to severe IgE-mediated reactions in allergic individuals. In this work, we report the isolation of the first recombinant antibodies against pistachio nut, produced without animal immunization, to be used in immunoassays for detection of allergenic pistachio in food products. Several phage display biopanning strategies were evaluated to screen the human-based domain antibody library (dAb) in search for pistachio-specific probes. The clone producing the PVF4 phage-dAb was finally selected, and it does not cross-react with cashew despite the phylogenetic proximity with pistachio. Western blot and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization tandem mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF/TOF) analysis demonstrated that this clone recognised a unique band of ∼22 kDa related to the basic subunit of pistachio 11S globulin (allergen Pis v 2). The PVF4 phage-dAb allowed detection of pistachio in a food matrix with a limit of detection (LOD) of 3983 mg kg-1 in an indirect phage-enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The ELISA method developed was used to assess applicability of the PVF4 phage-dAb for analysis of 77 commercial food products.
Keywords: 11S globulin; domain antibody (dAb); food allergen detection; food analysis; phage-ELISA; pistachio detection; recombinant antibody.