Peanut represents one of the most harmful allergenic foods capable of triggering severe and sometimes lethal reactions in allergic consumers upon ingestion of even small amounts. Several proteins expressed in this nut source have been proved to account for allergic reactions, as specific targets of patients' IgE antibodies. Methods mainly based on ELISA assays have been developed in order to detect peanuts in several food commodities. In addition, confirmatory LC-MS/MS methods based on different mass analyzers have also been devised for tracing peanut contamination in different foods achieving quite interesting limits of detection. In the present communication, the applicability of a benchtop high-resolution Exactive(TM) mass spectrometer for the rapid screening of peanut contamination in complex food matrices was assessed. In particular, the design of suitable peanut markers and the development of an high-resolution Orbitrap(TM) mass spectrometer-based method for peanut detection in a mixture of nuts species was reported. With this aim, different types of samples were prepared: (1) nuts-based mince made up of a mixture of hazelnuts, pistachios, almonds and walnuts; and (2) nuts mince fortified with peanuts at different contamination levels in order to assess the applicability of the method and the relevant analytical performance in term of sensitivity. A subset of six peptides fulfilling specific requirements was selected as peanut markers to check the suitability of the method tailored to the detection of peanuts in nuts-based products, and two of them, peptides VYD and WLG, were selected as quantitative markers. The latter allowed to reach a limit of detection as low as 4 ?g of peanuts proteins or 26 ?g of peanuts in 1 g of matrix [1]. In conclusion, the method enabled the sensitive detection of peanut traces in nut samples, with a very simple pre-treatment protocol, proving its potential as screening tool for the detection of eventual cross-contamination that occurs along the food chain. According to the reference dose established for peanut proteins, the method herein proposed, enabled a value that is approximately 50-fold lower than the threshold value to be reached.
High-resolution Orbitrap(TM)-based mass spectrometry for rapid detection of peanuts in nuts
E De Angelis;SL Bavaro;R PILOLLI;L Monaci
2016
Abstract
Peanut represents one of the most harmful allergenic foods capable of triggering severe and sometimes lethal reactions in allergic consumers upon ingestion of even small amounts. Several proteins expressed in this nut source have been proved to account for allergic reactions, as specific targets of patients' IgE antibodies. Methods mainly based on ELISA assays have been developed in order to detect peanuts in several food commodities. In addition, confirmatory LC-MS/MS methods based on different mass analyzers have also been devised for tracing peanut contamination in different foods achieving quite interesting limits of detection. In the present communication, the applicability of a benchtop high-resolution Exactive(TM) mass spectrometer for the rapid screening of peanut contamination in complex food matrices was assessed. In particular, the design of suitable peanut markers and the development of an high-resolution Orbitrap(TM) mass spectrometer-based method for peanut detection in a mixture of nuts species was reported. With this aim, different types of samples were prepared: (1) nuts-based mince made up of a mixture of hazelnuts, pistachios, almonds and walnuts; and (2) nuts mince fortified with peanuts at different contamination levels in order to assess the applicability of the method and the relevant analytical performance in term of sensitivity. A subset of six peptides fulfilling specific requirements was selected as peanut markers to check the suitability of the method tailored to the detection of peanuts in nuts-based products, and two of them, peptides VYD and WLG, were selected as quantitative markers. The latter allowed to reach a limit of detection as low as 4 ?g of peanuts proteins or 26 ?g of peanuts in 1 g of matrix [1]. In conclusion, the method enabled the sensitive detection of peanut traces in nut samples, with a very simple pre-treatment protocol, proving its potential as screening tool for the detection of eventual cross-contamination that occurs along the food chain. According to the reference dose established for peanut proteins, the method herein proposed, enabled a value that is approximately 50-fold lower than the threshold value to be reached.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
