Screening and Selection of Hypoallergenic Buckwheat Species

Both common buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum) flour and meal cause an allergy in sensitive patients, and if unnoticed, it can be fatal. It has become a potential occupational hazard for some mill workers. The development of hypoallergenic buckwheat would be more efficient if natural mutants for aller...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Arun Nair, Taiji Adachi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Hindawi Limited 2002-01-01
Series:The Scientific World Journal
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1100/tsw.2002.157
Description
Summary:Both common buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum) flour and meal cause an allergy in sensitive patients, and if unnoticed, it can be fatal. It has become a potential occupational hazard for some mill workers. The development of hypoallergenic buckwheat would be more efficient if natural mutants for allergenic protein are detected. A screening and selection method was developed using SDS-PAGE coupled with PCR techniques. SDS-PAGE analysis of 14 different species of buckwheat revealed that F. lineare and F. urophyllum lack the 22-kDa major allergenic protein. PCR-based screening with specific primers for sequences encoding the allergenic protein was also effective in distinguishing the allergen-deficient species.
ISSN:1537-744X