Food allergen control: Tropomyosin analysis through electrochemical immunosensing

Abstract

Regulations of the EU obliges the indication of the presence of allergens on food labels. This work reports the development of an electrochemical immunosensor to determine tropomyosin (TPM) - a major shellfish allergen - prevailing in the muscles of crustacean species. Two linear ranges between the signal and TPM concentration were obtained: between 2.5 and 20 ng mL^-1 and between 30 and 200 ng mL^-1, with a lowest limit of detection of 0.47 ng mL^-1. The selectivity of the optimized immunoassay, tested with other food allergens (e.g., Cyp c 1, a fish allergen), assures the effective detection of TPM, enabling successful control of foodstuff labelling. Several (12) foods, containing high and low TPM concentrations and TPM-free samples, were analysed using the sensor. A conventional ELISA kit and recovery assays were used to evaluate the accuracy of the results.

Keywords: Crustacean; Electrochemical biosensor; Food allergy; Immunosensor; Shellfish; Tropomyosin.