Tree Nuts and Peanuts as a Source of Beneficial Compounds and a Threat for Allergic Consumers: Overview on Methods for Their Detection in Complex Food Products

Abstract

Consumption of tree nuts and peanuts has considerably increased over the last decades due to their nutritional composition and the content of beneficial compounds. On the other hand, such widespread consumption worldwide has also generated a growing incidence of allergy in the sensitive population. Allergy to nuts and peanuts represents a global relevant problem, especially due to the risk of the ingestion of hidden allergens as a result of cross-contamination between production lines at industrial level occurring during food manufacturing. The present review provides insights on peanuts, almonds, and four nut allergens—namely hazelnuts, walnuts, cashew, and pistachios—that are likely to cross-contaminate different food commodities. The paper aims at covering both the biochemical aspect linked to the identified allergenic proteins for each allergen category and the different methodological approaches developed for allergens detection and identification. Attention has been also paid to mass spectrometry methods and to current efforts of the scientific community to identify a harmonized approach for allergens quantification through the detection of allergen markers.

Comprehensive characterization and detection of nut allergens in bakery foods using Q–TOF mass spectrometry and bioinformatics

“…The limit of quanti cation (LOQ) was set to S/N ratio of 10:1. The results of LOD and LOQ were summarized in Table 2, both of which were similar or superior compared with those LOQs and LOQs reported previously (Luparelli et al 2022). The recoveries of the analytical method were evaluated at three levels (1, 5, and 10 µg/g) of the nut protein incurred into the blank matrices.…”

Proteomic Analysis of Oil-Roasted Cashews Using a Customized Allergen-Focused Protein Database

“…These additional protein sequences had contributed 13 potential target peptides (Table S3) for cashew detection using MS. Although some peptides (WLQLSVEK, ADIYTPEVGR, and VFDGEVR) have been identified as target peptides in previous studies based on a limited number of cashew protein sequences, − the extra protein sequences can provide additional flexibility for target peptide identification. As demonstrated in the oil-roasting experiment, certain proteins/peptides are more susceptible to the food processing effects and thus may not be ideal for the MS analysis of oil-roasted cashew nuts.…”

Food allergen analysis: A review of current gaps and the potential to fill them by matrix‐assisted laser desorption/ionization

“…The increasingly frequent incorporation of tree nuts (hazelnuts, walnuts, cashew, and pistachios) and peanuts (a legume, rather than a tree nut) in complex food products is a particular source of concern currently. They provide a useful source of nonanimal protein and have significant beneficial health effects, but their use presents a threat of consumers with allergen issues (Luparelli et al., 2022).…”