Pammvi is the authorised suppliers, agents, dealers and wholesalers for Cashew Allergy ELISA Test.

The Cashew tree (Anacardium occidentale) belongs to the family of Anacardiaceae. With about 18% the fraction of proteins in cashew seed is very high. Some of these proteins, like the vicilin Ana o 1, the legumin Ana o 2 or the albumin Ana o 3 are known for being allergenic. Many of them are heat resistant making them stable to different production processes. For this reason cashew represents an important food allergen.

For cashew-allergic persons hidden cashew allergens in food are a critical problem. Already very low amounts of cashew can cause allergic reactions, which may lead to anaphylactic shock in severe cases. Because of this, cashew-allergic per­sons must strictly avoid the consumption of cashew containing food. Cross-contamination, most­ly in consequence of the production pro­cess, is often noticed. This explains why in many cases the existence of cashew residues in food cannot be excluded. For this reason sensitive detection systems for cashew residues in food­stuffs are required.

The Cashew ELISA represents a highly sensitive detection system for cashew and is particularly capable of the quantification of residues in cookies, cereals, ice-cream and chocolate.

Principle of the Test

The Cashew quantitative test is based on the principle of the enzyme linked immu­nosorbent as­say. An antibody directed against cashew proteins is bound on the surface of a microtiter plate. Cashew con­taining sam­ples or standards are given into the wells of the microtiter plate. After 20 minutes incu­ba­tion at room temperature, the wells are washed with di­luted washing solution to remove un­bound ma­te­rial. A peroxidase conjugated second antibody direc­ted against cashew proteins is given into the wells and after 20 minutes of incubation the plate is washed again. A substrate solution is added and in­cu­bated for 20 minutes, resulting in the develop­ment of a blue colour. The colour development is terminated by the addition of a stop solution, and the colour turns yel­low. The yellow colour is measured photo­me­trically at 450 nm. The concentra­tion of cashew is di­rectly proportional to the colour inten­sity of the test sample.

Enzyme Immunoassay for the quantitative determination of Cashew in food