In conclusion, the synergistic effects of heat, pressure and water
significantly changed the solubility and immunoreactivity of
almond proteins. Almond flour samples exhibiting significant
changes in protein recovery after thermal or high-pressure treatments
also exhibited changes in immunoreactivity, indicating that
thermal and high-pressure induced structural changes contributing
significantly to the changes in the immunoreactivity of almond
proteins; autoclave sterilization and high-pressure treatment,
which are typically performed with liquid samples or samples with
high water contents, might provide a means to reduce the antigenicity
of almond proteins. Additional studies are needed to evaluate
the impact of these processing methods in reducing almond
allergenicity using sera from patients allergic to almond proteins,
and determine whether similar results occur in other food matrices
that contain almond proteins.