Oral Immunotherapy for Food Allergy.
Food allergy is a potentially life-threatening condition with no approved therapies, apart from avoidance and injectable epinephrine for acute allergic reactions. Oral immunotherapy (OIT) is an experimental treatment in which food-allergic patients consume gradually increasing quantities of the food to increase their threshold for allergic reaction. This therapy carries significant risk of allergic reactions. The […]
Peanut proteins in periodate specific anion sensing: An ensuing reduction in allergic response.
Peanut proteins conarachin II, conarachin I and arachin were found to behave as highly selective fluorescence sensors for periodate amongst a set of different anions. The interactions of the proteins with periodate were also confirmed by other spectral methods and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The results indicate a selective interaction of peanut proteins with […]
Is a Cardio-Protective Diet Sustainable? A Review of the Synergies and Tensions Between Foods That Promote the Health of the Heart and the Planet.
There are many synergies between a diet that is healthy for the heart and one that is healthy for the planet, but there may also be tensions. We examined the Barilla Center for Food and Nutrition's double pyramid to describe the carbon, water, and ecological footprints of the components of a cardio-protective diet. Overall, fruits, […]
A systematic review and meta-analysis of nut consumption and incident risk of CVD and all-cause mortality
Dietary patterns containing nuts are associated with a lower risk of CVD mortality, and increased nut consumption has been shown to have beneficial effects on CVD risk factors including serum lipid levels. Recent studies have reported on the relationship between nut intake and CVD outcomes and mortality. Our objective was to systematically review the literature […]
Discovery of highly conserved unique peanut and tree nut peptides by LC-MS/MS for multi-allergen detection
Proteins unique to peanuts and various tree nuts have been extracted, subjected to trypsin digestion and analysis by liquid chromatography/quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry, in order to find highly conserved peptides that can be used as markers to detect peanuts and tree nuts in food. The marker peptide sequences chosen were those found to be present […]
Cross-linking of Peanut Allergen Ara h 2 by Polyphenol Oxidase: Digestibility and Potential Allergenicity Assessment
BACKGROUND: Peanut is one of the eight major food allergens. Its allergen, Ara h 2, can be recognized by over 90% of serum IgE samples from peanut-allergic patients. Therefore, reducing the allergenicity of Ara h 2 is especially important. RESULTS: In the present study, polyphenol oxidase (PPO), a protein cross-linking reaction catalyst that acts on […]
Multi-Allergen Quantification and the Impact of Thermal Treatment in Industry-Processed Baked Goods by ELISA and Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry
Undeclared food allergens account for 30-40% of food recalls in the United States. Compliance with ingredient labeling regulations and the implementation of effective manufacturing allergen control plans require the use of reliable methods for allergen detection and quantitation in complex food products. The objectives of this work were to: (1) produce industry-processed model foods incurred […]
Quantitative and qualitative optimization of allergen extraction from peanut and selected tree nuts. Part 1. Screening of optimal extraction conditions using a D-optimal experimental design.
A D-optimal design was constructed to optimize allergen extraction efficiency simultaneously from roasted, non-roasted, defatted, and non-defatted almond, hazelnut, peanut, and pistachio flours using three non-denaturing aqueous (phosphate, borate, and carbonate) buffers at various conditions of ionic strength, buffer-to-protein ratio, extraction temperature, and extraction duration. Statistical analysis showed that roasting and non-defatting significantly lowered protein […]
Quantitative and qualitative optimization of allergen extraction from peanut and selected tree nuts. Part 2. Optimization of buffer and ionic strength using a full factorial experimental design
A full factorial design was used to assess the single and interactive effects of three non-denaturing aqueous (phosphate, borate, and carbonate) buffers at various ionic strengths (I) on allergen extractability from and immunoglobulin E (IgE) immunoreactivity of peanut, almond, hazelnut, and pistachio. The results indicated that the type and ionic strength of the buffer had […]
Extraction and evaluation of functional properties of groundnut protein concentrate
The effect of membrane processing on the functional properties, structural changes, subunit profile and sensory attributes of the groundnut protein concentrate was investigated. Results indicated an increase in the nitrogen solubility and foaming capacity of the protein concentrate over all pH ranges (2-10) compared to acid precipitated protein isolate. Protein concentrate showed higher emulsion stability […]