December, 13th 2022, 14:00 CET

Breeding of low allergenic apples via Mal d1 ELISA selection and clinical provocation tests

with

Prof. Dr. Wilfried Schwab

Technical University of Munich
Biotechnology of Natural Products

Online Seminar via zoom

Link and password upon request

Please write an e-mail to: iem-seminar.umweltmedizin@tum.de

A large proportion of the world's population suffers from food-related allergies, including to apples. The main proteins causing allergic reactions to apples in Central and Northern Europe are the Mal d 1 proteins, which are homologs of the birch pollen allergen Bet v 1. To develop new hypoallergenic cultivars, we selected apple genotypes with low total Mal d 1 content from segregating populations by enzyme immunoassay analysis and tested the tolerance of these fruits by multi-year human provocation studies. This multistep approach, using the natural diversity of apples, led to the identification of fruits that were tolerated by allergy patients. In addition, we found a significant correlation between the total Mal d 1 content and the flavan-3-ol amount and demonstrated that the isoform composition of Mal d 1 proteins, determined by LC-MS/MS, has a crucial influence on the tolerance of apple genotypes. The presented strategy can be used to reduce the allergen content of other plant foods in order to improve food safety for allergy sufferers.