Changes of the antigenic and allergenic properties of a hen’s egg albumin in a cake with gamma-irradiated egg white

Changes of the antigenicity and allergenicity of a hen’s egg albumin (ovalbumin, OVA) in white layer cakes containing egg white gamma-irradiated with 10 or 20kGy were monitored by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), individually formatted with mouse anti-OVA IgG (mouse IgG) and with egg allergic patients’ IgE. Mouse IgG recognized OVA in the cakes with irradiated egg white better than that in the control with a non-irradiated one. Whereas, the detected concentrations of intact OVA in the control significantly decreased in the treatments, when determined by IgE-based ELISA. The results appeared to indicate that the antigenicity of the OVA increased, but that the allergenicity was decreased by irradiation and processing. Egg white irradiated for reducing the egg allergy could be used for producing a safer cake from the egg allergy.