Abstract:

According to the Macadamia integrifolia vicilin precursor AMP2 gene sequences, sets of loop-mediated
isothermal amplification (LAMP) primers were designed and screened using the design software Primer Explorer Version
4, then the relevant LAMP method was established for the detection of macadamia nuts as a food allergen by measuring the
results using real-time fluorescence or using a fluorescent dye in the reaction end. An evaluation of this method indicated
the satisfied specificity, sensitivity and stability in the identification of macadamia nuts from foods with a LOD of 0.5%. In
addition, the detection of 7 marketed food samples using this method showed 100% consistency with the labeled information
of allergen ingredients with zero false positive and negative rates, and thus, proved its better performances than commercial
rapid test strips.

Key words: food allergen, macadamia nut, loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP), detection method