In this article it is proposed that celiac disease be viewed not as a rare “genetically-determined” disorder, but as an extreme example of our body communicating to us a once universal, species-specific affliction: severe intolerance to... more
In this article it is proposed that celiac disease be viewed not as a rare “genetically-determined” disorder, but as an extreme example of our body communicating to us a once universal, species-specific affliction: severe intolerance to wheat. Celiac disease reflects back to us how profoundly our diet has diverged from what was, until only recently a grain free diet, and even more recently, a wheat free one. We are so profoundly distanced from that dramatic Neolithic transition in cultural time that “missing is any sense that anything is missing.” The body, on the other hand, cannot help but remember a time when cereal grains were alien to the diet, because in biological time it was only moments ago.
Glucose oxidase (GOX) has been recognized as an alternative to substitute chemical oxidants in bread making, however the action exerted on wheat flour proteins by the H2O2 produced is still unclear. Looking for a better understanding of... more
Glucose oxidase (GOX) has been recognized as an alternative to substitute chemical oxidants in bread making, however the action exerted on wheat flour proteins by the H2O2 produced is still unclear. Looking for a better understanding of the role of GOX and H2O2 in the bread making process, the effect of varying GOX levels and mixing time on soluble and insoluble wheat flour protein fractions was studied. Results showed that GOX promoted a decrement in free SH groups in both proteins, being the most evident effect on the soluble fraction at the beginning of the mixing process, remaining almost constant afterwards. H2O2 was continuously produced during mixing, showing its largest consumption during the first 6 min without significant SH changes afterwards. Results suggest that H2O2 must be involved in other reactions as it remains in the sample; this also suggests that oxygen is not a limiting factor in this reaction.
Gluten is a big protein network composed of monomeric fraction (prolamins) and poly-meric fraction (glutelins), occurring in many cereal-based products, especially in those containing wheat. Gluten peptides can trigger food allergies and... more
Gluten is a big protein network composed of monomeric fraction (prolamins) and poly-meric fraction (glutelins), occurring in many cereal-based products, especially in those containing wheat. Gluten peptides can trigger food allergies and intolerances, including inflammatory reactions as the celiac disease, an autoimmune disorder of the small intestine characterized by mucosal degeneration and villous atrophy. The treatment is the permanent exclusion of gluten from diet. However, gluten analysis is a very difficult task, due to the high complexity of polypeptides and the lack of consensus on the most appropriate analytical method. Proteomics approaches, combining liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry in tandem (LC-MS/MS), have been pointed as the most promising non-immunological techniques for gluten detection. LC-MS analyses associated with bioinfor-matics and specific-prolamin database can solve methodological limitations since it is based on the accurate molecular mass of peptide biomarkers. One of the major contributions of proteomics has been the identification of epitopes of gluten peptides responsible for wheat-related diseases. Recent works have defined grain-specific gluten peptides and also the lowest concentration at which peptides could be confidently detected. Proteomic application for gluten quantification should support not only regulatory limits in processed foods, but also the safety of consumers about food labeled as gluten-free.
Soluble proteins were extracted from common wheat flour obtained from nine cultivars of different qualities and were analyzed by nanoUPLC and Ultra Definition Mass Spectrometry (UDMS E) label-free quantitative approach. Collectively, 5894... more
Soluble proteins were extracted from common wheat flour obtained from nine cultivars of different qualities and were analyzed by nanoUPLC and Ultra Definition Mass Spectrometry (UDMS E) label-free quantitative approach. Collectively, 5894 proteins were identified and quantified with 8 peptides/protein. A total of 414 proteins were found differentially expressed with 85% proteins not yet described in the literature , according to their biological function. Quality-related proteins, such as puroindolines and chaperones , notably involved in the gluten-protein folding process, were up-regulated in superior (SP) and medium (MD) flours qualities and down-regulated in the low (LW) ones. Domains related to the chaperones activity were also found up-regulated in SP and MD and down-regulated in LW. In this work, nanoUPLC-UDMS E analysis was effective to identify and quantify metabolic proteins, allowing a clear distinction of the wheat flours and providing new perspectives for evaluating the technological quality based on the low abundant proteins of wheat endosperm.
Fusarium Head Blight (FHB), caused by the fungal species Fusarium graminearum, is a disease affecting wheat cultivars across Canada. Recent and severe outbreaks have spurred research in developing FHB-resistant cultivars and evaluating... more
Fusarium Head Blight (FHB), caused by the fungal species Fusarium graminearum, is a disease affecting wheat cultivars across Canada. Recent and severe outbreaks have spurred research in developing FHB-resistant cultivars and evaluating the underlying causes of FHB susceptibility. In this study, the effect of plant height on Fusarium Head Blight in Canadian spring wheat was evaluated over a two-year period. Cultivars of spring wheat varying in origin, height, and disease susceptibility were artificially inoculated with FHB, and the subsequent disease symptoms and height data was collected. It was found that plant height is negatively correlated with FHB incidence and severity. However, varieties originating from Eastern Canada had a much stronger negative correlation between plant height and FHB, whereas the trials with Western Canada origins had a weaker correlation.
