Detoxification of Wheat Gluten by Enzymatic Transamidation under Reducing Condition and Its Application in Typical Food Model

Abstract

ScopeGluten, the primary network builder of wheat dough, is responsible for celiac disease or wheat allergy. Transamidation of gluten under reduction conditions has been shown to reduce the potential toxicity of celiac disease, but its application in food preparation has not been extensively studied. This work investigates the use of transamidation in food preparation to address this gap in knowledge.Methods and resultsThis study investigates the effects of transamidation on the toxicity of commercial wheat flour and the apparent structure, digestive level, and rheological characteristics of resultant dough and steamed bread, as a typical food model. The results show that transamidation starts at the kneading stage, as evaluated by using R5 enzyme‐linked immunoassay and rat basophils. The potential toxicity of celiac disease is reduced by about 83% when 1% microbial transglutaminase (mTG), 2% l‐lysine, and 1% reduced glutathione (GSH) are added, while retaining the original physical and rheological properties of wheat flour. The additional of reduced GSH also improves the in vitro protein digestibility.ConclusionsAlthough it cannot be a celiac disease treatment directly, this study suggests that transamidation can serve as an alternative method for reducing the gluten toxicity of wheat flour‐based food products.