PhD Oral Defence: Effects of novel food processing methods on allergenic and nutritional attributes of kiwifruit components
PhD Oral Defence of Jin Wang, Bioresource Engineering
Kiwifruit is rich in bioactive components contributing to the prevention of cancers and heart diseases. However, kiwifruit is becoming one of the most common plant-based food allergies causing oral allergy syndrome and life-threatening anaphylaxis. Many factors such as variety, maturity of fruit affect its allergenicity. In this thesis, we found major kiwifruit allergen, Act d 2, is mainly detected in the green kiwifruit. The Act d 2 content of kiwifruit seeds is 2-fold and 4-fold higher when compared with that of pulp and peel, respectively.
To reduce the allergenicity of kiwifruit, microwave and high-intensity ultrasound were used to evaluate their effects on the nutritional properties and allergenicity of kiwifruit. The results found that an 80% reduction in the Act d 2 allergen content was observed after 5-min microwave treatment. Whereas, a negative effect on the color attributes and sugars content of kiwifruit juice was obtained. In comparison, ultrasound as an non-thermal processing significantly improved the color attributes, digestibility, and rheological characteristics of kiwifruit juice. Further, Act d 2 content was significantly decreased after ultrasound processing. Thus, high-intensity ultrasonication could be considered as an alternative processing method not only in improving bioactive compounds of kiwifruit juice, but also in reducing the allergenicity of kiwifruit.