Timmy Richardo¹ and Renee Lay Hong Lim²

¹Department of Biomedicine, Indonesia International Institute for Life Sciences (i3L), Jakarta, Indonesia
²Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Applied Sciences, UCSI University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

*Corresponding Author: Renee Lay Hong Lim, Associate Professor, Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Applied Sciences, UCSI University, No. 1, Jalan Menara Gading, UCSI Heights, Taman Connaught, 56000 Cheras, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Received: March 15, 2018; Published: April 19, 2018

Citation: Timmy Richardo and Renee Lay Hong Lim. “The Good and Bad of Peanuts”. Acta Scientific Nutritional Health 2.5 (2018).

Abstract

  The peanut, also known as groundnut or legumes are taxonomically classified as Arachis hypogaea, It is widely grown, in the tropics and subtropics, and is an important commodity because of it many uses as food or food additives such as peanut butter, vegetable oils and complimentary for desserts. It is a nutritious food containing vitamins, essential amino acids as well as bioactive compounds that are beneficial for the human such as the phytosterol, alpha-tocopherol, and flavonoids. It is a good solution for malnutrition, and recommend for prevention of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as cardiovascular disease and type II diabetes. Despites its numerous good properties, peanut is also a source of potent and fatal food allergen. There are three major peanut allergens contributing to peanut allergy, a hypersensitivity reaction with symptoms varying from mild to severe anaphylaxis. Peanut allergy reduces the quality of life for the affected individuals, and has a substantial effect on social and economic burden of healthcare for allergic patients. To date, peanut allergy management is by avoidance or relieves symptoms via administration of epinephrine. Studies on oral immunotherapy using peanut has shown the ability to induce desensitization, shifting the allergen-specific cytokine production away from a TH2 response. Also effective are the use of lactic acid bacteria probiotics as food products capable of downregulating allergy due to its inherent immunomodulatory properties. This mini-review will give an insight into the good and bad of peanuts and current management towards peanut allergy.

Keywords: Peanut; Peanut Allergy; Oral Immunotherapy; Probiotic, Treatment

Copyright: © 2018 Timmy Richardo and Renee Lay Hong Lim. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.