Controlled Enzymatic Treatment of Wheat Proteins for Production of Hypoallergenic Flour

Abstract

Both salt-soluble and salt-insoluble fractions of wheat flour have allergenicity, but their treatment with actinase, collagenase, and transglutaminase produced hypoallergenic flour. In detail, hard flour and soft flour were mixed with water containing either of these enzymes and then incubated at 20°C to obtain hypoallergenic flour products. Minimum amounts of the enzymes necessary to minimize the allergenicity were lower in soft flour than in hard flour, and in this sense the former was the best material. The product resulting from the treatment with collagenase or transglutaminase retained some high-molecular-weight proteinaceous components, suggesting that for food processing these may be preferable to the product resulting from the treatment with actinase.