Use of Plant Extracts for the Reduction of Gluten Immunogenicity

Abstract

The increasing demand for gluten free bread makes it necessary to look for new ways of producing. To address this, new strategies are being sought to eliminate harmful gluten from wheat, rye and barley, and to produce balanced products with good organoleptic properties. This article evaluates the efficacy of certain plant juices and extracts as a measures of reducing the immunogenicity of gluten. The gluten content of wheat bran and wheat starch before and after treatment with natural plant enzymes was investigated. The gluten content established in wheat starch after fermentation with kiwi, papaya and pineapple juice was 15-18 mg/kg, after treatment with Nigella sativa extract - 28 mg/kg. These measures reduced the gluten content in bran to 530-3500 mg/kg. Thus, plant extracts eliminated the immunogenicity of wheat starch and reduced the amount of immunoreactive peptides in wheat processing byproducts with a higher initial gluten content but remaining above the safe limit allowed for production of gluten-free products.