Simultaneous Identification and Species Differentiation of Major Allergen Tropomyosin in Crustacean and Shellfish by Infrared Spectroscopic Chemometrics.

[Display omitted] • A novel model, IR-CAM, was developed by infrared spectroscopic chemometrics. • TM could be identified within 10 min by shared and unique fingerprint peaks group. • Rapid species differentiation of TM at the Class/Family level was achieved by IR-CAM. • The IR-CAM was a new tool for identification and traceability of food allergens. To solve the lack of rapid and accurate methods for allergen identification and traceability, an infrared spectroscopic chemometric analytical model (IR-CAM) was established by combining infrared spectroscopy with principal component and cluster analysis. By comparing the second derivative infrared (SD-IR) spectra of 5 proteins and 14 crustaceans and shellfish tropomyosin (TM), 8 shared peaks and unique fingerprint peaks in the amide III region were found for crabs, shrimps, and shellfish. Based on the unique fingerprint peaks coexisting with shared peaks, allergen TM in crustaceans and shellfish could be identified within 10 min (cf. ELISA ∼ 4 h). Concurrently, the species differentiation of TM at the Class/Family level was achieved based on IR-CAM. Validation by fermented aquatic products TM (n = 60) demonstrated that the developed IR-CAM could simultaneously identify and differentiate TM in crustaceans and shellfish accurately. It could be applied for allergen detection and traceability of aquatic products on an antibody-free basis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]