Changes in Allergenicity of Gliadin in Strong Wheat Flour by Physical Treatments

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of physical treatments on the antigenicity of gliadin in strong wheat flour. Strong wheat flour was treated with an autoclave (5, 10, 30, 50 min), a microwave (1, 5, 10 min), or both (10, 30, 50 min/ 5, 10 min), followed by SDS-PAGE, immunoblotting, and Ci-ELISA using anti-gliadin IgG. The results indicated that the binding ability of IgG to gliadin in strong wheat flour slightly decreased after autoclaving or autoclaving/microwaving. In particular, the binding ability was reduced to about 87% after autoclaving for 50 min and to 89% after autoclaving/microwaving (50/5 min). In addition, gliadin bands in the 50 min autoclaved group disappeared in both SDS-PAGE and immunoblotting. On the other hand, the antigenicity of gliadin was unaffected by microwaving alone. In conclusion, the results of this study suggest that autoclaving may reduce the antigenicity of gliadin in strong wheat flour.