Peanu
t allergy is a public heal
th issue. The culpri
ts are
the peanu
t allergens. Reducing
the allergenicproper
ties of
these allergens or pro
teins will be beneficial
to allergic individuals. In
this s
tudy,
theobjec
tive was
to de
termine if peroxidase (POD), which ca
talyzes pro
tein cross-linking, reduces
theallergenic proper
ties of peanu
t allergens. In
the experimen
ts, pro
tein ex
trac
ts from raw
and roas
teddefa
tted peanu
t meals a
t pH 8 were incuba
ted wi
th
and wi
thou
t POD in
the presence of hydrogenperoxide a
t 37
ti
ties/deg.gif">C for 60 min. The POD-
trea
ted
and un
trea
ted samples were
then analyzed by SDS-PAGE, wes
tern blo
ts,
and compe
ti
tive inhibi
tion ELISA. IgE binding or allergenici
ty was de
terminedin blo
ts
and ELISA. Resul
ts showed
tha
t POD
trea
tmen
t had no effec
t on raw peanu
ts wi
th respec
tto pro
tein cross-linking. However, a significan
t decrease was seen in
the levels of
the major allergens,Ara h 1
and Ara h 2, in roas
ted peanu
ts af
ter POD
trea
tmen
t. Also, polymers were formed. Despi
te
this, a reduc
tion in IgE binding was observed. I
t was concluded
tha
t POD induced
the cross-linkingof mainly Ara h 1
and Ara h 2 from roas
ted peanu
ts
and tha
t, due
to POD
trea
tmen
t, IgE binding wasreduced. The finding indica
tes
tha
t POD can help reduce
the allergenic proper
ties of roas
ted peanu
tallergens.Keywords: Peroxidase; enzymes; raw
and roas
ted peanu
ts; allergenici
ty; Ara h 1
and Ara h 2 allergens;cross-linking; IgE an
tibodies; ELISA; wes
tern blo
ts