Fermenting Soy Eliminates Allergenic Substances

Wednesday, September 10, 2008 by: David Gutierrez, staff writer
Tags: soy products, health news, Natural News

(NaturalNews) Fermenting soy beans causes chemical changes in the proteins that trigger soy allergies, drastically reducing the risk of allergic reactions, according to two studies conducted by researchers from the University of Illinois and the Instituto de Fermentaciones Industriales (CSIC) in Madrid, Spain, and published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry and Food Chemistry..

The two studies by the same team of researchers found that when soy seeds, flour or meal were fermented, the immunoreactivity of soy proteins was significantly reduced.

"Why do we see this reduced immunoreactivity? During the fermentation process, proteins are broken down into very small pieces, pieces that can't be identified by the antibodies that produce the allergic reaction," researcher Elvira de Mejia said.

An estimated one in 200 people has an allergy to soy, and the incidence of such allergies has been increasing in recent years. Because soy is a widely used ingredient in a wide variety of food products, the food industry is particularly interested in finding a way to get around this relatively high allergy rate.

Currently, avoidance of soy products is the only accepted way to cope with a soy allergy.

Researchers tested six fermentation agents, including species of bacteria, mold and yeast on the different soy products. They then compared the immunoreactivity of fermented and non-fermented soy against human plasma samples obtained from the World Health Organization.

The researchers found that the bacteria Lactobacillus plantarum was most effective at reducing immunoreactivity, by 96 to 99 percent.

L. plantarum is a common bacteria and fermentation agent found in foods such as sauerkraut, pickles, sourdough, brined olives and Korean kimchi. It also occurs naturally in human saliva.

The researchers speculated that in addition to being less likely to cause allergic reactions, the proteins produced during soy fermentation may turn out to have other nutritional benefits to humans.