Monitoring Yellow Mealworm (Tenebrio molitor) as a Potential Novel Allergenic Food: Effect of Food Processing and Matrix.

ABSTRACT: The consumption of insects has increased in western countries, raising concerns about their potential to induce food allergic reactions in sensitized/allergic individuals. This work intended to develop a real-time PCR approach for the detection/quantification of yellow mealworm (Tenebrio molitor) as a potential allergenic food in complex matrices. For this purpose, reference mixtures simulating the production of pork sausages and wheat biscuits containing known amounts of mealworm were used. Real-time PCR with TaqMan probe targeting the cytochrome b gene of T. molitor was able to detect up to 2 fg of insect DNA, and 1.0 and 0.1 mg/kg of mealworm flour in autoclaved sausages and baked biscuits, respectively. Generally, the method showed acceptable analytical performance parame

SUBMITTER: Villa C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9921270 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature