Improvement of Surface Functionalities, Including Allergenicity Attenuation, of Whole Buckwheat Protein Fraction by Maillard-Type Glycation with Dextran

The purpose of the current study was to determine the effects of the introduction of polysaccharide chains onto the molecular surface of buckwheat proteins on buckwheat protein surface functionality. The whole buckwheat protein fraction (WBP) was prepared using 50 mM phosphate buffer (pH 7.5) containing 0.5 M NaCl and covalently linked with 6 kDa, 17.5 kDa, 40 kDa, 70 kDa, or 200 kDa dextran by Maillard-type glycation through controlled dry-heating at 60°C and 79% relative humidity for two weeks. Conjugation with 40 kDa dextran improved the water solubility and emulsifying properties of WBP without causing a serious loss of available lysine; 84.9% of the free amino groups were conserved. In addition, we found that the introduction of dextran chains onto the molecular surfaces of WBP attenuated the antigenicity of WBP.