No significant decreases in antigenicity were observed after irradiation
treatments under our experimental condition. Our results, however,
showed that detection of allergens in thermally processed food matrices
is more difficult than in flours. Furthermore, protein recoveries in the
processed foods appear to be affected by food matrix, processingmethod,
type of allergen, and protein extraction protocol employed.
Our results confirmprevious studies that have raised concerns about
the accurate detection of allergens in processed food matrices. Ongoing
research is required to improve the accuracy of methods for detection of
allergens in processed foods and further investigation of the combined
effects of irradiation and processing on the antigenicity and allergenicity
of food allergens would be useful.