Ara h 2 was purified from peanuts that were thermally treated by various processes, including boiling,
glycation, frying and roasting. The allergenicity of Ara h 2 in Balb/c mice and the influence of thermal
processing on the structural characteristics, and binding capacity of three core antigenic epitopes were
studied. The results demonstrated that boiling, glycation and frying induced the down-regulation of
the allergenicity of Ara h 2 in Balb/c mice, the collapse of its tertiary/secondary structure, and a reduction
in the core epitope binding capacity; roasting showed a comparable allergenicity and the weakest
inhibitory effect on core epitope binding capacity. These results indicate that thermal processing causes
alteration of the protein structure and core epitopes of Ara h 2, and may affect its allergenicity.