Chinese scientists have succeeded in making shrimp safe for people with seafood allergies. Reported by the American Chemical Society.
Many people around the world suffer from seafood allergies. In such cases, the immune system considers certain proteins in these foods to be pathogenic and initiates a response against them. Allergy symptoms can range from mild swelling to severe breathing difficulties. But proteins to which the immune system responds can be heat modified or broken down, hypothetically preventing the body from reacting badly.
Kexin Liu of Dalian Polytechnic University and colleagues shared shrimp samples (penaeus vannamei) are divided into three groups. One batch was left raw, the other fried. The third batch was fried and then treated with high pressure steam. The meat was then made into a paste and given to rats allergic to shrimp.
Both raw and fried shrimp elicited similar responses, including increased histamine levels and damage to the spleen and lungs; This suggests that the fried shrimp itself does not alter the properties of the protein much. The third group that consumed processed shrimp had milder reactions and less organ damage. Subsequent laboratory tests showed that frying changed the shape of these proteins, but antibodies were still able to bind to them. However, steam sterilization caused the proteins to clump (“stick together”), obscuring their binding sites. This prevented the antibodies from adhering, thus preventing a severe allergic reaction.
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