Indonesian Traditional Salted Fish: The Alteration Its Allergenicity during Processing

Abstract

ABSTRACT Fish is one of the major allergenic foods. However, there is almost no data related to Indonesian fish allergens, especially during traditional salted fish processing. This study aimed to evaluate the changes of allergenicity from 5 highly produced Indonesian salted fish in Muara Angke, North Jakarta: sardine (Sardinella fimbriata), mackerel (Decapterus spp.), mackerel tuna (Euthynus affinis), short mackerel (Rastrelliger spp.), and yellowstripe scad (Selaroides leptolepis). In this study, raw, salted, dried, and fried fish muscle extract from 5 fish species were prepared, and each was tested by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using sera from 2 patients, each with seafood hypersensitivity as positive control and healthy patient as negative control. SDS-PAGE results showed that salting, drying, and frying only have a moderate effect on the alteration of band intensity. Salted fish processing could not abolish parvalbumin related bands at 10–13 kDa and other bands that are considered major fish allergens (24, 40, and 50 kDa). Specific ELISA testing showed the alteration of fish protein extract allergenicity during salted fish protein was specific for each species. Fried, salted yellowstripe scad displayed the highest allergenic potential, while fried, salted short mackerel and mackerel tuna showed the lowest allergenic potential.