Cereal allergens: rice‐seed allergens with structural similarity to wheat and barley allergens

Cereals are food or food materials produced and consumed in large quantities in the world. Cereal allergy is a serious problem in that cereals are a staple food and a major nutrient source of not only carbohydrate but also protein, especially in Asian countries such as Japan. Many structural data including cDNA sequences on several cereal allergens have recently accumulated. We principally describe here the structural and immunologic properties of major rice allergens, and discuss the structural similarity of the rice allergens to wheat and barley allergens in the a-amylase inhibitor family.