Effects of Roasting, Blanching, Autoclaving, and Microwave Heating on Antigenicity of Almond (Prunus dulcis L.) Proteins

Whole, unprocessed Nonpareil almonds were subjected to a variety of heat processing methods that included roasting (280, 300, and 320 °F for 20 and 30 min each; and 335 and 350 °F for 8, 10, and 12 min each), autoclaving (121 °C, 15 psi, for 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 min), blanching (100 °C for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 10 min), and microwave heating (1, 2, and 3 min). Proteins were extracted from defatted almond flour in borate saline buffer, and immunoreactivity of the soluble proteins (normalized to 1 mg protein/mL for all samples) was determined using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Antigenic stability of the almond major protein (amandin) in the heat-processed samples was determined by competitive inhibition ELISA using rabbit polyclonal antibodies raised against amandin. Processed samples were also assessed for heat stability of total antigenic proteins by sandwich ELISA using goat and rabbit polyclonal antibodies raised against unprocessed Nonpareil almond total protein extract. ELISA assays and Western blotting experiments that used both rabbit polyclonal antibodies and human IgE from pooled sera indicated antigenic stability of almond proteins when compared with that of the unprocessed counterpart. Keywords: Almond; amandin; processing; food allergy; ELISA; protein; antigenicity