Hortense Dodo

Screening 34 Peanut Introductions for Allergen Content Using ELISA

Peanut is one of the most allergenic foods and reports of accidental ingestion of peanuts in unsuspected food are increasing. No information is available on the allergen content of peanut germplasm grown commercially and used in the food and confectionery industry. The objectives of this study were: (1) to determine the allergen contents of 34 peanut introductions (PI); and (2) to identify naturally occurring allergen-free and/or low or hypoallergenic peanuts germplasm. A basic ELISA protocol was utilized to detect the presence of antigens in the peanut lines using a pool of human sera from patients with documented history of peanut allergy. Two naturally occurring low, or hypo-allergenic germplasm were identified as PI 261942 and PI 338386. Both are Valencia market types with total allergen content significantly lower (P ≤0.05) than that of PI 119880 (0.550), PI 119876 (0.415) and PI 118991 (0.410) three Valencia market types and PI 262111 (0.485), a Virginia market type. No allergen-free PI was found. Allergen content of peanut lines from Bolivia and Paraguay were significantly (P ≤0.05) different to those from Venezuela. No significant difference was observed in the allergen content of the four market types.

Comparison of major peanut allergens Ara h 1, Ara h 2 and Ara h 3 between peanut cultivars from Côte d’Ivoire and the USA using SDS PAGE and Western Blots

Peanut is commonly consumed in many forms. The ubiquitous presence of peanut in processed food is responsible for an increasing number of allergic reactions due to accidental ingestion. The prevalence of peanut allergy seems to be underestimated in the African population possibly because of the lack of testing and clinical documentation. In this study, a comparison was made between raw and roasted peanut seeds from cultivars of Côte d’Ivoire (ARA-CI) and raw peanut seeds from the cultivar Georgia Green, grown commercially in the USA. The main objective of this study was to identify the protein profile of peanut seeds from Côte d’Ivoire and compare it with the molecular specificities of major allergens of Georgia green seeds from the USA using a combination of two methods, SDS PAGE and Western blots. Peanut protein profiles via SDS PAGE, coupled with Western blots were carried out on two collections of peanut seeds. In the raw peanut seed extracts from Côte d’Ivoire, are visible fingerprints of the major allergenic proteins Ara h 1(63.5 kDa),Ara h 2(17, 20 kDa), and Ara h 3(25,36, 40 and 44 kDa) and an allergenic bands of Ara h 3 of about 36kDa.This provides evidence of the presence of the major allergens in peanut from Côte d’Ivoire, this, a presumption of a high allergenic potency peanut despite a low prevalence of peanut allergy in the country. The presence of a strongly expressed 30 kDa protein, potentially corresponding to a component of Ara h 3 in the roasted sample means that cooking processes could increase the allergenic potency of peanut. This study makes it possible to identify molecular specificity in peanut from Côte d’Ivoire for the development of local screening test adapted to the environment.