Effect of instant controlled pressure drop (DIC) treatment on milk protein's immunoreactivity

In this work, we tried to investigate the impact of treatment with instant controlled pressure drop technology (DIC) on the allergenicity of milk proteins. In DIC treatment, milk proteins are exposed to a high-pressure saturated steam (0.4 MPa, 144 °C) during 25 s and ended with an abrupt pressure drop towards a vacuum (5 kPa, 32 °C). Immunoglobulin E (IgE)-binding ability is determined with indirect enzyme linked immuno spectrophotometric analysis and western blot test. Results indicate significant changes in the IgE binding of treated proteins with DIC. Treated caseins showed increase in the IgE-binding ability; this indicates that DIC enhance the antigenicity of treated caseins. In the opposite, treated whey proteins (ß-lactoglobulin and α-lactalbumin) showed decrease in the IgE binding of these proteins. DIC treatment at 0.4 MPa during 25 s causes a greater reduction of the allergenicity of whey proteins than treatment with 0.6 MPa for 25 s.