Cow’s milk allergens and technologies to control allergenicity

Abstract

Cow’s milk is one of the most frequently occurring food allergens. Cow’s milk allergy has become a social concern for human health and nutrition all over the world. Cow’s milk allergy can severely affect infants’ health. Different clinical symptoms of milk allergy have been observed. Cow’s milk contains more than 20 proteins that can cause allergic reactions. β-lactoglobulin, α-lactalbumin and casein were found as the main allergens of cow’s milk and many epitopes of these allergens were identified using sera of allergic patients or animal sera. Various approaches have been applied to reduce the allergenicity of cow’s milk proteins, such as heat treatment, glycation, protease hydrolysis and lactobacillus fermentation. These treatments were able to reduce the allergenicity of milk proteins only partly. For complete elimination of milk allergenicity and for the development of hypoallergenic or non-allergenic milk products, further research on the specific effects of the various treatments is required.