Sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the detection of lupine residues in foods.

Lupine has been increasingly used in food applications due to its high nutritional value and excellent functional properties. However, lupine provokes allergic reactions in susceptible individuals. The presence of undeclared lupine residues in foods can pose a serious health risk to lupine-allergic individuals. Therefore, the objective of this research was to develop a sandwich-type ELISA for the detection of lupine residues in foods. Lupine flour derived from Lupinus albus was used to immunize 3 rabbits and a sheep. Pooled lupine-specific antibodies were partially purified from the sera by ammonium sulfate precipitation. A sandwich lupine ELISA with a limit of quantification (LOQ) of 1 ppm was developed by utilizing the rabbit antisera as the capture reagent and the sheep antiserum as the detector reagent. The binding of the antigen-antibody complex was visualized by the addition of commercial rabbit antisheep IgG antibody labeled with alkaline phosphatase with subsequent addition of p-nitrophenyl phosphate substrate to produce a colored product for quantification. Minor cross-reactivity was observed with soy (Glycine max) and black bean (Castanospermum australe). The performance of the lupine ELISA was evaluated in reference food standards (beef frankfurter and apple cinnamon muffin) and laboratory-prepared cooked frankfurters and corn muffins. The mean percent recovery for lupine spiked-frankfurters and corn muffins were 108.4%+/- 8.8% and 103.1%+/- 11.5%, respectively. The sandwich-type lupine ELISA developed in this study provides food manufacturers and regulatory agencies with an effective analytical tool to detect and quantify lupine residues in processed foods.