A Comparative Analysis on the Performance of Two Commercial Egg ELISA Methods on Detecting and Quantifying Whole Egg Powder from a Spiked Matrix

Authors

Maya Tanikawa-Brown, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

First Advisor

Joseph Baumert

Committee Members

Joseph Baumert, PhD, Food Science & Technology Shyamali Jayasena, PhD, Food Science & Technology Amanda Ramer-Tait, PhD, Food Science & Technology Department of Food Science & Technology

Date of this Version

Spring 3-11-2025

Document Type

Thesis

Citation

Tanikawa-Brown, M. 2025. A Comparative Analysis on the Performance of Two Commercial Egg ELISA Methods on Detecting and Quantifying Whole Egg Powder from a Spiked Matrix. Undergraduate Honors Thesis. University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Comments

Copyright Maya Tanikawa-Brown 2025.

Abstract

Egg, one of 9 major allergens, is a prevalent public health concern. The objective of this research was to contribute to the general knowledge of egg allergen detection and quantification by comparing two commercial egg ELISA assays from R-Biopharm, RIDASCREEN FAST Egg Protein (Product Code, R6402) and RIDASCREEN Egg (Product Code, R6411). The recovery of protein from whole egg powder (WEP) spiked into a buffer, raw cookie dough, and baked sugar cookie was evaluated using the R6402 and R6411 ELISA methods. WEP was spiked into all three matrices at concentrations of 5, 10, and 50 ppm WEP. Samples were extracted using the extraction method outlined in the R6402 kit and the two different extraction protocols outlined in the R6411 kit. Both the R6402 and R6411 methods reliably quantified 5, 10, and 50 ppm WEP in buffer, raw dough, and baked cookie matrices, with higher percentage recoveries observed with the R6411 method, compared to the R6402 method.