title: Tomato allergy: impact of genotype and environmental factors on the biological response.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Food allergies are increasing in the European population. At present the onset of symptoms can be avoided only by elimination of a particular fruit or vegetable from the diet. A new approach is to develop hypoallergenic food products. This study characterises the allergenic potential of tomatoes, considering cultivation conditions, developmental stages and genotypes, in order to identify hypoallergenic fruits.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Patients with a history of tomato allergy were recruited for skin allergy tests. Tomatoes carrying distinct genotypes were grown under various cultivation conditions and harvested at different maturation stages. Cultivation conditions (nitrogen fertilisation, light exposure and plant nutrition) did not affect the skin reactivity in tomato-allergic patients. However, skin reactivity was significantly lower when using green-unripe compared with red-ripe tomatoes and when using landrace cultivars compared with cultivars bred for use in organic horticulture.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Depending on their genetic background and maturity level, some tomato cultivars elicit positive reactions in tomato-allergic patients in the skin allergy test. This novel finding should pave the way for the development of tomatoes with reduced allergenicity to relieve sufferers of tomato allergy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology and Allergology, Allergy-Centre-Charité, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Sabine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dölle
authors.forename: Dietmar
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Schwarz
authors.forename: Karola
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lehmann
authors.forename: Wolfram
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Weckwerth
authors.forename: Eckhard
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: George
authors.forename: Margitta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Worm
authors.forename: Philipp
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Franken
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D052179:Antigens, Plant / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D005308:Fertilizers; D005512:Food Hypersensitivity / Q000178:diet therapy / Q000209:etiology* / Q000276:immunology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D005638:Fruit / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D059647:Gene-Environment Interaction; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D007073:Immunoglobulin E / Q000032:analysis; D018551:Solanum lycopersicum / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D058458:Nitrogen Cycle; D058871:Organic Agriculture; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000009:adverse effects; D012882:Skin Tests; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D052179:Antigens, Plant; D005308:Fertilizers; D010936:Plant Extracts; D007073:Immunoglobulin E