The allergenicity of peanuts can be significantly affected by the method of cooking. Different thermal processing techniques, such as roasting and boiling, have been shown to alter the allergenic properties of peanut proteins, impacting their structure, solubility, and IgE-binding capacity.
Evidence
1. Roasting Increases Allergenicity: Studies have shown that roasting peanuts at high temperatures significantly increases their allergenic properties. This is due to the Maillard reaction, which modifies peanut proteins such as Ara h 1 and Ara h 2, making them more resistant to digestion and increasing their IgE-binding capacity (Maleki et al., 2000). Additionally, roasted peanuts were found to bind IgE from allergic individuals at much higher levels than raw peanuts (Beyer et al., 2001).
2. Boiling Reduces Allergenicity: Boiling peanuts tends to reduce their allergenicity. Boiled peanuts have been shown to have a lower IgE-binding capacity compared to roasted peanuts, largely due to the leaching of allergens into the boiling water and structural changes that make the proteins less allergenic (Mondoulet et al., 2005). Boiled peanuts demonstrated lower sensitization in serological tests and were less resistant to digestion in simulated gastric fluid experiments compared to roasted peanuts (Zhang et al., 2018).
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3. Frying Similar to Boiling: Frying peanuts also reduces their allergenicity compared to roasting. The allergenic proteins Ara h 1 and Ara h 2 show reduced IgE binding after frying, similar to the effect observed with boiling. This reduction is due to protein denaturation and changes in protein structure (Blanc et al., 2011).
4. Protein Structural Changes: Both boiling and roasting induce structural changes in peanut proteins. However, roasting at high temperatures tends to produce more resistant and allergenic protein structures compared to boiling, which often leads to partial denaturation and aggregation of proteins, reducing their allergenicity (Rao et al., 2016).
Conclusion
Boiling and frying peanuts generally reduce their allergenicity compared to roasting, which significantly increases it due to higher temperature-induced structural changes and increased IgE-binding capacity. Therefore, for individuals concerned about peanut allergies, consuming boiled or fried peanuts might be a safer option than roasted peanuts.
