Seafood allergens in China and anti-allergenic property of seaweeds

Abstract

Seafood is composed of diverse organisms and humans are allergic to many types of seafood. Although many proteins have been identified as allergens, tropomyosin is recognized as the major allergen of Crustacean and Mollusc, while parvalbumin is a major allergen of fish. These allergens are resistant to food processing such as heating and enzyme hydrolysis. Currently, there are no effective methods to produce hypoallergenic foods. In China, brown seaweed has been reported to have some anti-allergic components, identified as polyphenols. These findings will provide safer medicines for more effective treatment of patients allergic to seafood.