91丝瓜视频

Researchers at 91丝瓜视频聽have聽found that聽briefly聽treating peanuts with cold plasma, an ionically charged gas that triggers chemical changes,聽reduces聽their potential聽to cause allergic reactions.聽The researchers say this is聽probably because the process聽causes聽changes to the protein structure,聽the part of the peanut that聽can聽trigger an immune response.聽The technology聽was also shown to聽improve聽functional properties important for food manufacturing.聽

鈥淚t鈥檚 clear this research benefits consumers with food allergies 鈥� it means they may have more food choices in the future,鈥� said聽Vijaya Raghavan,聽study co-author and聽Professor of Bioresource Engineering at 91丝瓜视频.聽鈥淚mportantly, this approach isn鈥檛 limited to peanuts; it could also be applied to other allergens such as eggs, hazelnuts and more, potentially significantly reducing allergy risks across a wide range of foods.鈥澛�

The research was led by Jin Wang, now a Professor at Southeast University聽in China,聽during his doctoral studies at 91丝瓜视频.聽

Less allergenic but still tasty聽

Peanuts are a聽significant聽source of plant protein worldwide,聽with functional聽properties聽that聽are聽widely used聽in many food products, but their role as a common allergen poses a major challenge.聽Traditional methods to reduce allergenicity聽have聽relied聽on heat-based treatments聽that聽can聽alter聽taste,聽aroma聽and appearance;聽non-thermal approaches like irradiation have聽had聽inconsistent聽results.聽聽

While cold plasma聽has been considered聽before,聽in this study, the researchers extracted the聽whole聽peanut protein聽and聽treated聽the samples with cold plasma, assessing聽their聽allergenic potential through multiple in vitro methods.聽聽

Among聽the聽qualities assessed聽was immunoreactivity, a measure of how strongly a protein聽binds to聽immune聽antibodies in lab tests,聽indicating聽its potential to trigger an allergic response.聽

鈥淚n real-life scenarios, consumers are exposed to the complex mixture of proteins present in whole peanuts, rather than isolated individual allergens,鈥� Raghavan said.聽鈥淥ur study focused on whole peanut protein and achieved a nearly 70聽per cent聽reduction in overall immunoreactivity after 25 minutes of cold plasma treatment.鈥澛犅�

This approach is聽the聽one most聽likely to聽yield聽practical聽benefits,聽as it聽means food developers can聽use聽hypoallergenic peanut protein powder to聽develop聽new products, he explained.聽

The聽study聽also聽showed that聽the treatment made the protein easier to break down in the intestine.聽

Potential聽application聽for other聽foods聽

While聽other researchers have聽identified聽both hydrogen peroxide and nitrite as key chemical agents in cold plasma treatment, this study found only an increase in nitrite levels.聽

鈥淭his suggests that during treatment,聽nitrite聽may play a more dominant role in modifying protein structure, an aspect that is often overlooked in many applied studies,鈥� Raghavan said.聽聽

The team聽plans to聽study these聽mechanisms聽in more detail聽and聽optimize聽the technology聽for greater聽efficiency.聽

鈥淲e聽hope to expand the desensitization effect beyond peanuts to a wider range of food allergens,鈥澛爃e聽said. 鈥淏y developing hypoallergenic ingredients with enhanced functional properties, we hope to serve a broader consumer base while maintaining food safety and quality.鈥澛�

About the study聽

鈥溾�� by聽Jin Wang,聽Vijaya Raghavan et al, was published in聽Journal of Future Foods.聽

The study was funded by the National Key Research and Development Program of China, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu聽Province聽and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities.聽