Effect of "IVDV", a thermomechanical treatment, on arachis hypogaea proteins : assessment of allergenicity in Balb/c mice

Abstract

Peanuts are classified under the most allergic foods, causing life-threatening reaction. The criticality of this allergy is due to several factors, including its increasing global prevalence, the high allergic potential of peanut proteins, and their cross-reactivity with other food allergens. Many are the processing methods that aim at lowering the allergenicity of peanuts, differing in their modes of action. It has been clearly shown that steam-based treatments are more efficient in lowering peanut allergenicity than other thermal processes since they have significant impact on both linear and conformational allergic epitopes. The IVDV “Intensification of Vaporization by Decompression to the Vacuum” is a thermomechanical treatment undertaken under high steam pressure for a certain period of time. Taking into consideration the efficiency of heat-based treatments, the aim of the current study is to assess the effect of IVDV on the protein content in specific, and the allergenicity of peanuts in general. Interestingly, our results demonstrated that protein content was significantly reduced in peanuts following IVDV treatment. The allergenic potential of peanuts post-treatment was even lowered as compared to that of deep-fried peanuts. Sensitized mice displayed reduced expression of Th2 cytokines, histamine, IgG1 and IgE, with approximately normal levels of Th1 cytokines after being challenged with IVDV-treated peanuts crude protein. The attenuated allergic response was manifested through normal body temperature and low anaphylactic score. This study unveiled promising results, revealing the high potential of the IVDV processing in mitigating peanuts allergenicity.