Published in Scientific Bulletin. Series F. Biotechnologies, Vol. XX
Written by Elena MIHAI (DRĂGHICI), Maria PELE
Food allergies have a considerable impact on modern society. There is no known cure. As a result, consumers can only avoid offending foods and use pharmacological agents. Some of the most severe allergic reactions occur when peanuts and peanut derivatives as peanut oils are consumed. The food industry will have to comply with requirements set forth by law for all packaged foods sold in the European Union. At times, it can be difficult to measure allergenic proteins in a wide variety of foods. Yet the food matrix can sequester allergens, inhibiting their detection, without significantly affecting allergenicity. The studies about allergenicity of edible oils and related to peanut oils are few and enough controversies. Some studies showed the presence of peanut allergens some not. It has to be emphasised that different studies used different methods for extraction, concentration and detection the peanut traces so the results had difficult been compared. In this context we investigated some extraction and concentration methods for the recovery of proteins from oils and fats derived from, or containing, peanut. The recovery of total protein and peanut allergens are very different for each method. Our result show how much the results depend on the method used to extract or/and concentrate the proteins from different matrices. The influence of solvent plays an important role in that process. Interactions with lipids of protein may alter the possibility to detect and quantify them by a hiding allergen/protein effect.
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