Proteins are sources of many peptides with diverse biological activity. Such peptides are considered as valuable components of foods with desired and designed biological activity. Two strategies are currently recommended for research in the area of biological activity of food protein fragments. The first strategy covers investigations on products of enzymic hydrolysis of proteins. The second one is synthesis of peptides identical with protein fragments and investigations using these peptides. It is possible to predict biological activity of protein fragments using sequence alignments between proteins and biologically active peptides from database. Our database contains currently 527 sequences of bioactive peptides with antihypertensive, opioid, immunomodulating and other activities. The sequence alignments can give information about localization of biologically active fragments in protein chain, but not about possibilities of enzymic release of such fragments. The information is thus equivalent with this obtained using synthetic peptides identical with protein fragments. Possibilities offered by the database are discussed using wheat alpha/beta-gliadin, bovine beta-lactoglobulin and bovine beta-casein (including influence of genetic polymorphism and genetic engineering on amino acid sequences) as examples.

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Background. Proteomic analysis is emerging as a highly useful tool in food research, including studies of food allergies. Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis involving isoelectric focusing and sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis is the most effective method of separating hundreds or even thousands of proteins. In this study, albumin and globulin fractions of pea seeds cv. Ramrod were subjected to proteomic analysis. Selected potentially alergenic proteins were identifi ed based on their molecular weights and isoelectric points. Material and methods. Pea seeds (Pisum sativum L.) cv. Ramrod harvested over a period of two years (Plant Breeding Station in Piaski-Szelejewo) were used in the experiment. The isolated albumins, globulins and legumin and vicilin fractions of globulins were separated by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. Proteomic images were analysed in the ImageMaster 2D Platinum program with the use of algorithms from the Melanie application. The relative content, isoelectric points and molecular weights were computed for all identifi ed proteins. Electrophoregrams were analysed by matching spot positions from three independent replications. Results. The proteomes of albumins, globulins and legumin and vicilin fractions of globulins produced up to several hundred spots (proteins). Spots most characteristic of a given fraction were identifi ed by computer analysis and spot matching. The albumin proteome accumulated spots of relatively high intensity over a broad range of pI values of ~4.2-8.1 in 3 molecular weight (MW) ranges: I -high molecular-weight albumins with MW of ~50-110 kDa, II -average molecular-weight albumins with MW of ~20-35 kDa, and III -low molecular-weight albumins with MW of ~13-17 kDa. 2D gel electrophoregrams revealed the presence of 81 characteristic spots, including 24 characteristic of legumin and 14 -of vicilin. Conclusions. Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis proved to be a useful tool for identifying pea proteins. Patterns of spots with similar isoelectric points and different molecular weights or spots with different isoelectric points and similar molecular weights play an important role in proteome analysis. The regions characteristic of albumin, globulin and legumin and vicilin fractions of globulin with typical MW and pI values were identifi ed as the results of performed 2D electrophoretic separations of pea proteins. 2D gel electrophoresis of albumins and the vicilin fraction of globulins revealed the presence of 4 and 2 spots, respectively, representing potentially allergenic proteins. They probably corresponded to vicilin fragments synthesized during post-translational modifi cation of the analysed protein.

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Sieve classification was used to prepare grain streams of distinct protein content and composition. Both reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography and two-dimensional electrophoresis revealed differences in protein composition between large (F1), medium (F2-F3), and small (F4) kernel fractions of three Polish cultivars: Sukces and Tonacja (winter wheats) and Nawra (spring wheat). Statistical analysis indicated that grain protein composition is affected by the cultivar and kernel size, as well as by interaction of these traits. The albumin/globulin and glutenin fractions showed a tendency to decrease with diminishing kernel size. The gliadin content was affected to a greater extent by the kernel size than by the wheat genotype. The highest content of gliadins was observed in the smallest and the largest kernel fractions.