Soybean (Glycine max) allergens─A Review on an Outstanding Plant Food with Allergenic Potential

Abstract

Soybean (Glycine max) is the most used vegetarian protein source and a common ingredient of industrially produced foods. In addition to several nutritional and health benefits, soybean is classified as an allergenic source, affecting 0.2–0.4% of allergic individuals worldwide. Soybean allergy can be persistent and impact the life quality of soybean-sensitive patients, even causing severe allergic reactions and anaphylaxis. However, there is no scientific consensus about the classification of major and minor soybean allergens, the severity of soybean allergy itself, risk assessment, and its classification as an obligatory duty to labeling. This review discusses soybean as an outstanding food in human nutrition, identified major and minor soybean allergens, allergen detection methods, the impact of different food processing steps on the allergenicity of soybean-containing food, and how soybean allergic patients are affected and can be protected by proper allergen risk management.