Comparison of Laboratory‐Developed and Commercial Monoclonal Antibody‐Based Sandwich Enzyme‐Linked Immunosorbent Assays for Almond (Prunus dulcis) Detection and Quantification

A commercially available monoclonal antibody (mAb)‐based direct sandwich enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit (BioFront Technologies, Tallahassee, Fla., U.S.A.) was compared with an in‐house developed mAb 4C10‐based ELISA for almond detection. The assays were comparable in sensitivity (limit of detection < 1 ppm full fat almond, limit of quantification < 5 ppm full fat almond), specificity (no cross‐reactivity with 156 tested foods at a concentration of 100000 ppm whole sample), and reproducibility (intra‐ and interassay variability < 15% CV). The target antigens were stable and detectable in whole almond seeds subjected to autoclaving, blanching, frying, microwaving, and dry roasting. The almond recovery ranges for spiked food matrices were 84.3% to 124.6% for 4C10 ELISA and 81.2% to 127.4% for MonoTrace ELISA. The almond recovery ranges for commercial and laboratory prepared foods with declared/known almond amount were 30.9% to 161.2% for 4C10 ELISA and 38.1% to 207.6% for MonoTrace ELISA. Neither assay registered any false‐positive or negative results among the tested commercial and laboratory prepared samples. Practical Application Ability to detect and quantify trace amounts of almonds is important for improving safety of almond sensitive consumers. Two monoclonal antibody‐based ELISAs were compared for almond detection. The information is useful to food industry, regulatory agencies, scientific community, and almond consumers.