(176k) Investigating the Impact of Moist and Dry Thermal Treatments on Immunoglobulin E (IgE) Binding to Pistachio Allergens

Pistachios, renowned for their nutritional value, harbor proteins known to elicit allergic responses, including Pis v 1, Pis v 2, Pis v 3, and Pis v 4, each exhibiting distinct levels of allergenic potency. This study focuses on elucidating the impact of diverse thermal treatments, both moist and dry, on the allergenic properties of these proteins. This study demonstrated that when pistachios were subjected to moist and dry thermal treatments, the high temperature caused the proteins within them to undergo denaturation. This denaturation alters the conformation of the allergenic proteins, potentially reducing their ability to bind to IgE antibodies and their allergenic properties. During the denaturation process, weak non-covalent bonds within the protein, such as hydrogen bonds, van der Waals forces, and hydrophobic interactions, are disrupted. This destabilizes the protein's structure and causes it to unfold. Additionally, the heat can break disulfide bonds, similar to the action of reducing agents, further contributing to protein denaturation. Blanching, boiling, soaking in hot water, and heating involved exposing pistachios to elevated temperatures, typically between 145°C to 150°C, for 2 hours, resulting in a reduction from over 5000 ppm to less than 20 ppm in this experimental work. In this study, heat treatment was found to be an effective method for reducing the allergenicity of pistachio proteins by inducing denaturation.