A team from the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV), the Universitat de València (UV), and the Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red sobre Enfermedades Raras (CIBERER) has developed a lateral flow test that identifies and quantifies the extent of allergens reliably in food with the assistance of a smartphone. The work has been published within the journal Biosensors.
“Food allergy or hypersensitivity is estimated to affect about 520 million people worldwide. These reactions occur mainly through the consumption of foods containing trace allergens. Due to this fact, identifying and quantifying them before the food is consumed is crucial, and that is what the test we now have developed allows,” says Sergi Morais, professor within the Department of Chemistry on the Universitat Politècnica de València and researcher on the Inter-University Institute of Molecular Recognition and Technological Development (IDM).
The prototype has been developed as a proof of concept for concurrently detecting almond and peanut allergens and has been validated with on a regular basis industrial foods corresponding to biscuits and energy bars.
Amongst its benefits, the researchers highlight the reliability of the test, which comprises multiple internal controls and calibrators integrated right into a miniaturized 36-point array. “With microarray technology, we perform 36 assays in a single step. The derived information allows us to discover whether the result’s a real positive or negative. As well as, with the inner calibrators and the smartphone, we will quantify with high precision traces of allergen within the food,” says Ángel Maquieira, full professor within the Department of Chemistry on the Universitat Politècnica de València.
Regarding the extraction method, the UPV, UV, and CIBERER team stresses its simplicity, which implies anyone can carry it out at any time.
“Current extraction methods consist of multiple steps and require sophisticated equipment for grinding, degreasing, extraction, and purification of allergens. Due to this fact, the evaluation is carried out in qualified laboratories. The aim is to decentralise the evaluation, as has been done with the COVID-19 test. We would like anyone to give you the option to analyse a food just before consuming it,” adds Sergi Morais.
The extraction method developed is predicated on the usage of a transportable grinder, which is used to grind and filter the sample in a single step; 5 mL of an answer is then added to extract the allergen, and, once the sample is ready, the test strip is immersed in the answer. And in only 5 minutes, the result’s obtained, which will be read with a cell phone.
At an estimated cost of €1 per strip, the developed test has great industrial potential, for instance, within the food sector for rapid identification of allergens in situ and within the pharmaceutical sector to quantify the potency of allergenic extracts utilized in allergy testing.”
Amadeo Sena, postdoctoral researcher on the Inter-University Institute for Molecular Recognition and Technological Development (IDM)
Future development
Trying to the long run, the UPV, UV, and CIBERER team points out that, given the characteristics of the test strip, it could easily be adapted for other allergens, because the group has specific antibodies for a wide selection of allergens and biomarkers. “Our challenge is to develop a test for the simultaneous quantification of the 14 allergens that have to be declared in response to Royal Decree 126/2015. ” concludes Patricia Casino, a researcher at Instituto Universitario de Biotecnología i Biomedicina (BIOTECMED) -Universitat de València and the CIBERER.
Source:
Universitat Politècnica de València
Journal reference:
Sena-Torralba, A., et al. (2022) Lateral Flow Microimmunoassay (LFµIA) for the Reliable Quantification of Allergen Traces in Food Consumables. Biosensors. doi.org/10.3390/bios12110980.