Effect of Fermentation on the Milk Allergen Proteins During Yogurt-making

Abstract

Cow milk and dairy products have a great significance in human nutrition but may lead to concerns due to milk protein allergy. Reduction or elimination of cow milk allergy is mainly achieved by the destruction of allergenic epitopes in the molecular structure of relevant proteins via various treatments during dairy processing. Yogurt is one of the most consumed fermented dairy foods. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of fermentation on the protein content and molecular structure of milk during yogurt production. Protein profiles and structural features of the dairy samples collected at various steps of yogurt manufacturing were analyzed using electrophoresis and spectroscopy. Fermentation after pasteurization treatment remarkably altered the content and structure of allergen proteins through unfolding, denaturation, and aggregation. This might suggest a correlation with the modified allergenicity of milk proteins in the end product. Immunological assays ongoing will help a better understanding of the allergenicity of yogurt products analyzed in this study.

Keywords

• yogurt
• fermentation
• milk allergens
• protein
• electrophoresis
• FTIR

Supporting Institution

Uşak Üniversitesi BAP Birimi

Project Number

UBAP06/TP044/2017

Thanks

This work has been financially supported by Uşak University Scientific Research Projects Department with the projects (UBAP06/TP044/2017). The authors would like to thank Dr. Senem Şanlı and Dr. Eyüp Yıldırır for their valuable helps in Capillary electrophoresis and FTIR studies, respectively.

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