Milk protein is an important source of dietary protein for humans. In the modern food industry, milk and milk protein have become essential components in various processed foods. Milk protein is one of the most common allergens, and the problem of food allergies caused by milk protein has become a topical issue in the field of food safety. With the development of the dairy industry, non-milk derived food ingredients have been introduced in various dairy products, which may interact with milk protein, altering the protein’s structure and affecting its antigenic epitopes and consequently its allergenicity. Herein, we discuss the effects of food components on milk protein allergenicity from macronutrients, micronutrients and functional activities contained in the food base, and other substances. We hope that this review can improve the scientific understanding of milk protein allergenicity in food components, guide food processing safety to reduce milk protein allergenicity, and provide a basis for food allergenicity risk assessment.

Fruits and vegetables have a high nutritional value, and they, apart from still being nutritious, has a good flavor after being fermented with Lactobacillus. The present article summarizes the Lactobacillus strains used for fermenting fruits and vegetables, the probiotic effect of fruits and vegetables fermented with Lactobacillus, the quality improvements of fruits and vegetables after Lactobacillus fermentation, and reviews the current global status of Lactobacillus-fermented fruits and vegetables. In addition, the main problems existing in this field and future research directions are discussed.

In order to evaluate the functional characteristics of Tibetan kefir, the conditions for the fermentation of skim milk with Tibetan kefir were preliminarily optimized by one-factor-at-a-time method based on titratable acidity and sensory evaluation, and the antioxidant capacity and cholesterol-lowering ability of the fermented milk were studied in vitro. It was found that the optimal fermentation conditions were as follows: inoculum size 6%, fermentation time 7.5 h, and temperature 37 ℃. The fermented milk produced under the optimized conditions had a medium acidity, delicate taste, uniform texture and unique flavor, and its lactic acid bacterial population was 1.48 × 108 CFU/mL. The hardness of the fermented milk was 178.43 g, higher than that of traditional fermented milk, the adhesion was -103.52 g·s and the non-fat solid content, protein content and titratable acidity all conformed to the national standard for fermented milk. The quality of the fermented milk was good overall. Compared with traditional fermented milk, its antioxidant activity was not particularly prominent, but the cholesterol-lowering ability was particularly considerable, with removal rate of as high as 37.98% (fermented skim milk) and 40.68% (fermented whole milk).