Raising the pH of the pepsin‐catalysed hydrolysis of bovine whey proteins increases the antigenicity of the hydrolysates

Abstract

The poor and slow degradation of the antigenic epitopes of whey proteins when pepsin digestion occurs under conditions that prevail in the stomach of infants could be of much importance for the development of cow milk hypersensitivity. The immature gastrointestinal mucosal barrier of infants allows large antigenic fragments of these proteins to pass into the systemic circulation.