Analysis of lysozyme in cheese by immunocapture mass spectrometry

The enzyme lysozyme is used as a preservative to prevent late blowing of ripened cheese, caused by Clostridium tyrobutyricum. Since the enzyme is extracted from hen egg white, lysozyme has to be declared on food product labels as a potential allergen. Here, a method is reported that combines immunocapture purification and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) analysis for the detection of lysozyme in cheese samples. Cheese extracts were treated with magnetic particles coated with a monoclonal antibody directed against lysozyme. After immunocapture purification, lysozyme was detected by MALDI-TOF-MS. The limit of detection of the assay was about 5 mg/kg lysozyme in cheese. The method reliably distinguished between cheese samples which had been produced with and without lysozyme. Thus, the novel assay allows the reliable, sensitive, and specific detection of lysozyme in a food matrix. The assay could be easily adapted to other target peptides and proteins in complex food matrices and, therefore, has a broad application potential, e.g. for the analysis of allergens.