Germination reshapes allergen profiles in peanut and lupine but preserves residual IgE reactivity

During germination, seed storage proteins are degraded by endogenous proteases into shorter peptides or even free amino acids in order to provide the nitrogen required for the seedling growth along the germination process. A few lines of evidence indicated that germination can reduce allergenicity of peanut, rice and soybean. The aim of this study is to determine the influence of germination on the allergenic capacity of peanut and lupine measured by SDS-PAGE, western blot and ELISA with IgE serum of allergic patients and skin prick test with ungerminated and germinated peanut and lupine samples. The results indicate that germination modifies, but does not eliminate, the immunoreactivity of peanut and lupine, and both retained a considerable fraction of the original allergenic capacity.