Immunoassays: their history, development and current place in food science and technology

The purpose of this paper is to introduce the reader to immunoassays. This paper is the first in a themed issue of the Journal in which a number of papers have been brought together in order to demonstrate the types and variety of immunoassays, which are currently available. Indeed it might be said that all an analyst needs to do is to name a molecule and somewhere there will now be an immunoassay for the detection of that molecule. This obviously is not entirely accurate, however immunoassays do provide a powerful tool, which can be used in the analysis and quality control of food materials. For both the novice and the experienced worker the specialist terminology of a subject presents an initial barrier, which must be overcome before full understanding is achieved. In this paper an attempt is made to introduce the important terms with which the reader should be familiar and to try to set the various technologies in context. The various basic methods are described and the theoretical and practical basis of more sophisticated assays now being devised are introduced.