Characterization of the seed proteins of African locust bean (Parkia biglobosa), African breadfruit (Treculia africana) and soybean (Glycine max)

African locust bean (Parkia biglobosa) and African breadfruit (Treculia africana) are underutilized indigenous crops with potential as sources of nutrients for food security and novel food products.
Seed proteins of three accessions of African locust bean (ALB) and each of African breadfruit (ABF) and soybean were characterized using sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) gel electrophoresis and amino acid analysis.
The ALB accessions had similar electrophoretic profile ranging from 15 to 66 kDa and shared similar bands with soybean at the 15 to 25 and 35 to 66 kDa regions.
ABF shared similar bands with soybean at the 13, 17 to 19 and 35 kDa regions.
All three crops shared similar bands at the 17 to 19 and 35 kDa regions.
A distinct band was observed at the 12 and 20 kDa regions for ABF and soybean, respectively.
Total protein content of ALB ranged from 29.68 to 29.96 g 100 g^-1, while that of ABF and soybean were 21.23 and 38.90 g 100 g^-1, respectively.
All the crops had a good balance of the nine essential amino acids (EAA). The EAA obtained for ALB ranged from 38.45 to 40.92 g 100 g^-1 protein, while that of ABF and soybean were 44.64 and 61.54 g 100 g^-1 protein, respectively.
Threonine, methionine and tryptophan were the limiting amino acids in ALB, ABF and soybean, respectively.
The high EAA content observed for ALB and ABF, and the similar banding patterns to soybean indicate that these plants are ideal for fortification applications in food formulations.

III All Africa Horticultural Congress

P.E. Akin-Idowu, K.O. Egbekunle, S.O.S. Akinyemi, U. Orkpeh

indigenous tree-crops, Nigeria nutritive values, gel electrophoresis, seed proteins

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2018.1225.59