Lamberti Cristina, Nebbia Stefano, Cirrincione Simona, Brussino Luisa, Giorgis Veronica, Romito Alessandra, Marchese Cristiana, Manfredi Marcello, Marengo Emilio, Giuffrida Maria Gabriella, Rolla Giovanni, Cavallarin Laura
Institute of Sciences of Food Production-CNR, Grugliasco, (TO), Italy.
Department of Medical Sciences, Allergy and Clinical Immunology, The University of Turin & AO Mauriziano "Umberto I", Turin, Italy.
Food Res Int. 2021 Oct;148:110567. doi: 10.1016/j.foodres.2021.110567. Epub 2021 Jun 30.
Edible insects are considered as a promising and sustainable alternative protein source for humans, although risk assessments, with particular reference to the allergic potential of insect proteins, are required. Considering that insects are likely to be consumed after processing, it is crucial to assess how processing can influence allergenicity. In our study, we investigated how boiling and frying affect the IgE cross-recognition of proteins from five edible insects (mealworm, buffalo worm, silkworm, cricket and grasshopper). We considered three groups of Italian patients allergic to shrimps and to house dust mites, who had never consumed insects before and two subjects with occupational allergy and food sensitization to mealworm. Our data suggest that thermal processing may change the solubility of proteins, thereby resulting in a protein shift from water-soluble fractions to water-insoluble fractions. Immunoblot and LC-MS/MS analyses have shown that tropomyosin may play an important role as a cross-allergen for house dust mite and shrimp allergic patients, while larval cuticle protein seems to play a major role in the cross-reactivity of patients primarily sensitized to mealworm. On the basis of our results, the effects of processing appear to be protein-, species- and treatment-specific. Therefore, house dust mite, shrimp and mealworm allergic patients should consume insects with caution, even after thermal processing.
可食用昆虫被认为是一种有前景的可持续替代蛋白质来源，尽管需要进行风险评估，特别是针对昆虫蛋白的过敏潜力。考虑到昆虫可能在加工后食用，评估加工如何影响致敏性至关重要。在我们的研究中，我们调查了煮沸和油炸如何影响五种可食用昆虫（黄粉虫、水牛蠕虫、蚕、蟋蟀和蚱蜢）蛋白质的IgE交叉识别。我们考虑了三组对虾和屋尘螨过敏的意大利患者，他们以前从未食用过昆虫，以及两名对黄粉虫有职业过敏和食物过敏的受试者。我们的数据表明，热处理可能会改变蛋白质的溶解度，从而导致蛋白质从水溶性部分转移到水不溶性部分。免疫印迹和LC-MS/MS分析表明，原肌球蛋白可能作为屋尘螨和虾过敏患者的交叉过敏原发挥重要作用，而幼虫表皮蛋白似乎在主要对黄粉虫致敏的患者的交叉反应中起主要作用。根据我们的结果，加工的影响似乎是蛋白质、物种和处理特异性的。因此，屋尘螨、虾和黄粉虫过敏患者即使在热处理后也应谨慎食用昆虫。
