Abstract: In order to explore the impact of thermal processing on the structure of egg white allergens, four major allergens in hen’s egg white were heated under different conditions of temperature and time. Circular dichroism, ultraviolet and fluorescence spectroscopy were used to detect the spatial structure of allergens. Results showed that ovotransferrin was unstable to heat, and its molecular structure was unfolded, with the aromatic residues and hydrophobic groups exposed on the molecular surface after heating. The secondary structure of ovalbumin became more ordered, ultraviolet absorbance value decreased, and surface hydrophobicity increased when it was heated slightly; however, with increasing temperature and heating time, ovalbumin became unordered and aggregated. The secondary structure of ovomucoid was relatively stable, and its molecules were unfolded after mild heating, leading to increased absorption and fluorescence intensities, and then aggregated partly after further heating. The secondary structure of lysozyme became disordered with the aromatic residues and hydrophobic groups gradually exposed after heating, but with increasing degree of heating, part of lysozyme became aggregated. The present study may provide a theoretical basis for studying the effect of heating on the allergenicity of egg allergens.

Key words: thermal processing, egg white allergens, spectral analysis, structure