Impact of thermal and biotechnological processing on the bioaccessibility and allergenic peptide profile of white lupin (

Background: White lupin ( Methods: Local lupin seeds were subjected to four distinct processing techniques: boiling, microwave cooking, fermentation, and enzymatic treatment. To evaluate protein stability and allergen release under physiological conditions, the processed samples underwent simulated Results: The results indicated that biotechnological processes, specifically enzymatic treatment and fermentation, generated a higher diversity of detectable peptides and distinct allergenic matches following digestion compared to thermal treatments alone. Furthermore, samples subjected to the simulated gastrointestinal digestion model revealed a broader spectrum of conserved epitope matches in allergen databases compared to standard hydrolysis, suggesting that this model provides a more accurate representation of the allergenic peptides likely to persist in the human digestive tract. Discussion: These findings demonstrate that processing methods significantly modulate the structural integrity and predicted allergenic profile of lupin proteins, providing a molecular basis for selecting appropriate processing strategies in the development of safer lupin-based functional foods.