Digestibility of food allergens and nonallergenic proteins in simulated gastric fluid and simulated intestinal fluid-a comparative study

J Agric Food Chem. 2002 Nov 20;50(24):7154-60. doi: 10.1021/jf020599h.

Abstract

Information on the comparative digestibility of food allergens and nonallergenic proteins is crucial when stability to digestion is to be used as a criterion to assess the allergenic potential of novel proteins. In this work, we compared the digestive stability of a number of food allergens and proteins of unproven allergenicity and examined whether allergens possess a higher stability than nonallergenic proteins of similar cellular functions, and whether there is a correlation between protein digestibility and allergenicity. The stability of groups of storage proteins, plant lectins, contractile proteins, and enzymes, both allergens and proteins with unproven allergenicity, in a standard simulated gastric fluid and a standard simulated intestinal fluid was measured. Food allergens were not necessarily more resistant to digestion than nonallergenic proteins. There was not a clear relationship between digestibility measured in vitro and protein allergenicity.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Allergens / metabolism*
  • Body Fluids / metabolism*
  • Dietary Proteins / metabolism
  • Digestion*
  • Drug Stability
  • Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel
  • Food Hypersensitivity*
  • Gastric Mucosa / metabolism*
  • Intestinal Mucosa / metabolism*
  • Lactoglobulins / metabolism
  • Models, Biological
  • Ovalbumin / metabolism
  • Papain / metabolism
  • Pepsin A / analysis
  • Pepsin A / metabolism
  • Plant Lectins / metabolism

Substances

  • Allergens
  • Dietary Proteins
  • Lactoglobulins
  • Plant Lectins
  • Ovalbumin
  • Papain
  • Pepsin A