Treatment of cereal flour and semolina for consumption by celiac patients
AssigneeConsiglio Nazionale Delle Ricerche
InventorsMauro Rossi, Carmela Gianfrani, Rosa Anna Siciliano
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Abstract
The present invention relates to the use of an enzymatic method for treating flour, semolina and protein extracts derived from cereals known to stimulate a pathological immune response in patients affected by Celiac Disease (CD). Said treatment drastically reduces or completely eliminates the toxicity of gluten or similar products derived from other cereals. The method uses the catalytic activity of microbial transglutaminase and, in particular, its ability to bind proteins in cereal flour or semolina to an alkylated (C1-C4) derivative of lysine. After the treatment said proteins extracted from flour show a substantially lowered immuno-stimulatory activity in celiac patients T lymphocytes.
Claims13
A process for obtaining cereal products suitable for gluten-sensitive individuals, the process comprising the steps of:
- a. providing a cereal product comprising gliadin and gluten, both the gliadin and the gluten having glutamine residues;
- b. treating the glutamine residues of the gliadin and the gluten with a C1-C4 alkyl ester of lysine in the presence of a transglutaminase, said transglutaminase being an amine γ-glutamyl-transferase EC 2.3.2.13.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.