Isolation and allergenicity evaluation of glycated α-lactalbumin digestive products and identification of allergenic peptides

This study aimed to isolate and evaluate the allergenicity of glycated α-lactalbumin (ALA) digestive products and identify its allergenic peptides. The digestive products of native-, alone glycated- and ultrasound-assisted glycated ALA (ALA-D, ALA-gal-D, 100ALA-gal-D) were isolated into three fractions (F1, F2 and F3). High-resolution mass spectrometry showed that the digestion-resistant peptides of F2 and F3 mainly distributed in amino acid sequence (AA) 25–31, AA32-53, AA40-53, AA54-60, AA80-90, AA94-104. The allergenicity of the three fractions of glycated ALA was lower than that in ALA-D, indicating glycation of ALA could indeed reduce its allergenicity after digestion. Furthermore, most fractions isolated from high glycation-degree ALA had the lowest allergenicity. The IgG/IgE binding abilities of synthesized peptides indicated that AA94-104 firstly identified by us embodied the strongest allergenicity and might be the potential allergenic peptide. This will provide a theory for preparing hypoallergenic products based on the identified allergenic peptides.