Abstract
Both common buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum) flour and meal cause an allergy in sensitive patients, and if unnoticed, it can be fatal. It has become a potential occupational hazard for some mill workers. The development of hypoallergenic buckwheat would be more efficient if natural mutants for allergenic protein are detected. A screening and selection method was developed using SDS-PAGE coupled with PCR techniques. SDS-PAGE analysis of 14 different species of buckwheat revealed that F. lineare and F. urophyllum lack the 22-kDa major allergenic protein. PCR-based screening with specific primers for sequences encoding the allergenic protein was also effective in distinguishing the allergen-deficient species.