Antigenicity of Heated Milk Proteins

The effect of heat on the antigenicity of milk proteins has been the subject of many publications in the past. Various authors employing different techniques and approaches have arrived at different conclusions. Among the early investigators, Moro1and Fuld2showed that there was apparently no change in antigenic properties of milk after being heated to 100 C for one hour. Wells3showed that this lack of change in antigenicity was due to the heat stability of the casein fraction of milk. Kudicke and Sachs4and Versell5observed that antisera obtained from boiled milk and its whey were much less active than those from fresh milk. Cutler,6employing gross anaphylaxis, precipitin, and complement-fixation techniques concluded that there was a definite change in specificity of whey proteins after evaporation and sterilization. Lewis and Hayden,7using the complement-fixation test, declared that there occurred a decrease in