SYDNEY, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- Research by scientists from Australia and Norway is showing promise towards reducing the proteins in wheat related to diseases such as celiac and baker's asthma.
The research released on Friday comes on the back of the recent publishing of the wheat genome sequence, a project which involved scientists from Murdoch University (MU) in Western Australia.
Utilizing that mapping of the wheat genome, another team of scientists from MU, along with scientists from the Norwegian University of Life Sciences, are working to reduce the allergenic effect of certain proteins contained in wheat.
"We are working using the newly published wheat genome sequence to identify those proteins that are responsible for immune reactions like celiac disease and baker's asthma," study co-author Angela Juhasz from the State Agricultural Biotechnology Centre at MU said.
"Understanding the genetic variability and environmental stability of wheat will help food producers to grow low allergen food that could be used as a safe and healthy alternative to complete wheat avoidance."
Although according to Juhasz, the research may help reduce the amount of gluten in wheat, the aim is not to eliminate gluten all together.
"I don't think that gluten free bread is on the table because if you think about it the gluten is why you are eating wheat so if you want to remove gluten from wheat then the product is just not suitable for producing bread or noodles or cakes and cookies," Juhasz said.
"What we are trying to achieve is to reduce the amount of these proteins and to identify those sources that are suitable for patients suffering these diseases."
The research revealed that growing conditions had a strong effect on the amount of proteins triggering food allergies in wheat.
"When the growing season had a cool finish we found an increase in proteins related to baker's asthma and food allergies," Juhasz said.
"On the other hand, high temperature stress at the flowering stage of the growing season increased the expression of major proteins associated with coeliac disease."
Juhasz said she hopes that the results will help food producers to identify grains with reduced allergen and antigen content, making them safer for wheat disease sufferers.
