Development of Cashew and Pistachio Ladders through a Food-Processing Approach.

Area of Science:

• Food science
• Allergy research
• Immunology

Background:

• Oral immunotherapy (OIT) has shown success for peanut allergy.
• Cashew and pistachio allergies pose significant health risks.
• Developing safer OIT strategies for tree nut allergies is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate wet-thermal processing (soaking and boiling) for modifying cashew and pistachio allergens.
• To assess the potential of reduced allergenicity for OIT applications.
• To establish an 'allergen ladder' using modified nut proteins.

Main Methods:

• Cashew and pistachio nuts were subjected to soaking and boiling (1-4 hours).
• Allergenicity was analyzed using SDS-PAGE, intrinsic-fluorescence spectroscopy, ELISA, and immunoblotting.
• Binding of allergen-specific polyclonal IgG and human IgE (sIgE) was measured.

Main Results:

• Extended boiling (4 hours) significantly reduced cashew and pistachio allergenicity.
• Thermal processing altered tertiary structures, causing denaturation and degradation of allergens.
• Reduced IgE-binding capacity correlated with increased boiling time; shorter treatments were less effective.

Conclusions:

• Extended boiling is an effective method to reduce the allergenicity of cashew (Ana o 3) and pistachio (Pis v 1) allergens.
• This thermal modification approach shows potential for creating safer cashew and pistachio OIT.
• Further optimization of treatment conditions may be needed for shorter processing times.