Everybody loves peanuts, right? You'll find them at the ballgame, on picnics, at the circus--even on airplanes. The crunchy nuggets can be popped in your mouth, one by one. Or they can be ground up into velvety smooth peanut butter and smeared on a sandwich.

But, the truth is, not everyone loves peanuts. In fact, a lot of people, including kids like you, are allergic to peanuts. Maybe you've got some friends who can't eat them.

Food allergies are nothing to sneeze at. They're much more serious than that. A person with peanut allergies who accidentally eats a peanut can become very sick--very fast. Even the tiniest little taste of peanut can spell trouble for kids with allergies. It can even mean being rushed to the hospital!

Scientists with the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) are involved in several projects to help find peanuts that everyone can enjoy. In one project, researchers are looking for ways to make food products containing peanut butter safer for people with allergies.

Can you think of any foods that contain peanuts or peanut butter? What about snack crackers with peanut butter on them? Or chewy granola bars made with peanuts? Trail mix usually contains them, too.

Can you imagine what it would be like to not be able to eat a PB&J sandwich? That's what it's like for kids with peanut allergies.

Going Fruity

Si-Yin Chung is one ARS researcher who's discovered a great way to make peanuts safer for kids with peanuts allergies. But I bet you'll never guess where he found a helping hand: in apples.

Apples and other fruits, like bananas, contain a natural protein that scientists call "PPO." That's short for "polyphenoloxidase" ("polly-FEE-nol-OX-ee-dace").

This special protein is the reason why apples and bananas turn brown when they're sliced.

You can even try this experiment at home. With the help of an adult, cut an apple into several slices. Wait a few minutes. Do you see the surface of the apple slices turning brown?

By cutting the apple open, the PPO protein is exposed to the oxygen in the surrounding air. This causes a reaction to occur that's kind of like what happens when metal on a car, or on a bike, turns to rust.

A Chain Reaction

Chung is taking advantage of this chemical reaction and using it on peanuts. When he adds the PPO from apples to ground-up peanuts, something interesting happens.

"Unusual molecules called tyrosines ("TY-ro-seens") start reacting," he says. These molecules, like balls in a pinball machine, bounce around inside the peanut proteins and react with each other.

The tyrosine molecules also strike a specific group of peanut proteins known as allergens. That's important since it's these proteins that cause some people to have painful peanut allergies.

"The PPO changes the way the peanut proteins, or allergens, are built or structured," says Chung.

And these changes, as a result, make peanuts less allergenic. This means they could be safer for kids with peanut allergies.

Chung says the next step is to test the peanuts treated with the PPO in animal laboratory tests. He and his colleagues will investigate whether or not the all-natural fruit PPO affects peanuts' flavor at all.

Hopefully, that won't be the case. After all, peanuts are a yummy snack that's also good for us!

--By Erin Peabody, formerly Agricultural Research Service, Information Staff.