Mass Spectrometry Analysis of Allergens

Abstract

This chapter provides an overview of available detection methods with the main focus on mass spectrometry (MS) and challenges involved in the detection of food allergens is presented. Data from the National Health Interview Survey from 1997 to 2007 showed that the prevalence of food allergy in the US has increased by 18% among children under age 18 years old. MS method is one of the widely accepted methods for protein identification, characterization, and quantification in food allergen analysis. MS is considered a core technique in proteomics and peptidomics as it has a wide range of applications, including in the detection of allergenic proteins. MS has been widely used in the identification of allergenic proteins in different food products and ingredients derived from them such as milk, peanut, egg, wheat, soybean, fish, shellfish, etc. Food allergy prevalence has increased over the past decades, and it has become a significant public health problem.