Food allergy articles
More than a million Americans suffer from peanut allergies, but ARS researchers are working to reduce the allergenicity. The U.S. produces about 3 to 4 billion pounds of peanuts annually; 40 percent goes into processed foods.
Apples may hold the key to reducing the allergenicity of peanuts--great news for the estimated 1.5 million Americans and other folks worldwide who suffer from peanut allergies.
Agricultural Research Service scientists at the Southern Regional Research Center, New Orleans, La., discovered that adding a natural compound from apples--polyphenol oxidase, or PPO--to extracts from chopped-up peanuts alters the allergenic properties of some peanut proteins.
Plans call for lab-animal studies to confirm the apple protein's allergen-fighting actions. Other tests will determine PPO's effects on peanut flavor and shelf life (Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, volume 85, pages 2631 to 2637). The scientists caution that simply eating apples won't control peanut allergens.
For details, contact: Si-Yin Chung, (504) 256-2077; USDA-ARS Southern Regional Research Center, c/o Arkansas Children's Nutrition Research Center, Little Rock, Ark.
