Development and Validation of a Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification (LAMP) Method for the Rapid, Sensitive, and Specific Detection of Hazelnut as an Allergen in Food Matrix

• Published in: Journal of agricultural and food chemistry Vol. 72; no. 43; pp. 24093 - 24100
• Main Authors: Schäfer, Laura, Völker, Elke, Eule, Miryam, Ahrens, Birgit, Beyer, Kirsten, Holzhauser, Thomas
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Chemical Society 30.10.2024
• Subjects: allergens; Allergens - analysis; Allergens - genetics; Allergens - immunology; colorimetry; Corylus - chemistry; Corylus - genetics; Corylus - immunology; detection limit; ethics; food chemistry; Food Contamination - analysis; food matrix; genes; hazelnuts; Humans; internal transcribed spacers; Limit of Detection; loop-mediated isothermal amplification; Molecular Diagnostic Techniques; New Analytical Methods; Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques - methods; quality control; rapid methods; Sensitivity and Specificity; therapeutics; colorimetric detection; allergen; hazelnut; ITS2; DNA detection; LAMP; loop-mediated isothermal amplification
• ISSN: 0021-8561; 1520-5118; 1520-5118
• DOI: 10.1021/acs.jafc.4c07076

Analytical verification of hazelnut in food supports risk-based approaches for proper allergen labeling to prevent unwanted allergic reactions or to quality control diagnostic or therapeutic allergen preparations for allergic subjects. We present the development and validation of a loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay for rapid detection of hazelnut by targeting the internal transcribed spacer 2 gene. The qualitative method requires neither sophisticated analytical equipment nor antibodies, allowing an easy-to-use application with no ethical concern related to the use of animals. It demonstrated a limit of detection at or below 10 mg/kg hazelnut in various food matrices, making it also suitable for verifying hazelnut at levels of clinically relevant eliciting doses. Validation against proficiency test samples and testing of applicability with commercial food items confirmed its usefulness in processed foods. The simplicity of the method, including visual colorimetric detection, combined with high specificity and sensitivity, represents an advancement over existing qualitative methods.