Peanut Allergens: An Overview

Abstract

Peanut is recognized as a potent food allergen producing one of the most frequent food allergies. This fact has originated the publication of an elevated number of scientific reports dealing with peanut allergens and, especially, the prevalence of peanut allergy. For this reason, the information available on peanut allergens is increasing and the debate about peanut allergy is always renewed. This article reviews the information currently available on peanut allergens and on the techniques used for their chemical characterization. Moreover, a general overview on the current biotechnological approaches used to reduce or eliminate peanut allergens is also provided.

Keywords:

• Peanut allergens
• characterization
• allergenicity
• food allergy
• cross-reactivity
• hypoallergenic peanuts

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors thank the Comunidad Autónoma of Madrid (Spain) for financial support (research project S-2009/AGR-1464). Cristina Montealegre thanks the University of Alcalá for her predoctoral grant.