Polyphenols and food-grade protein-polyphenol complexes for attenuation of food allergy

Food grade strategies to alleviate allergies can provide a welcome alternative for individuals who suffer adverse reactions to certain proteins in foods. Polyphenolic phytochemicals, especially the ubiquitous flavonoid class of polyphenols, are able to bolster the human immune system in response to common food allergens. Unbound, free dietary polyphenols released during digestion after dietary intake of polyphenol-rich foods mitigate oxidative stress and inflammation provoked during an allergic reaction, but these molecules can also stabilize specific human allergic effector cells (mast cells, basophils) involved in the cascade of allergy symptoms. Polyphenols bound, non-covalently or covalently, to allergenic food proteins using food-compatible methods result in protein-polyphenol particulate complexes. The protein-polyphenol complexes deliver the same allergy-attenuation mechanisms as free polyphenols, but also have the capacity to mask allergenic epitopes on proteins and change protein conformation to reduce IgE recognition. Protein-polyphenol complexes are also capable of protecting ephemeral polyphenol molecules during transit in the human gastrointestinal tract, for delivery to the gut microbiome.