Insight of the Functional and Biological Activities of Coconut (Cocos nucifera L.) Protein by Proteomics Analysis and Protein-Based Bioinformatics

Abstract

Coconut (Cocos nucifera L.) is one of the most critical economic crops in the tropics and sub-tropics. Although coconut protein has attracted more and more attention due to its nutritional potential, the lack of proteomic information has limited its practical application. The present study aimed to investigate the coconut meat proteome by shotgun proteomics and protein-based bioinformatic analysis. A grand total of 1686 proteins were identified by searching the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) protein database and self-constructed C. nucifera transcriptome repository. Among them, 17 and 9 proteins were identified as antioxidant proteins and globulins, respectively. Network analysis of the globulins referred to the sub-works of Cupin and Oleosin, and the antioxidant proteins were related to the sub-networks of glutathione metabolism and peroxisome. The bioactive peptides acquired by in-silico digestion of the targeted proteins have the potential to be applied as antioxidants and emulsifiers for both healthcare and food stabilization.

Proteome Landscape during Ripening of Solid Endosperm from Two Different Coconut Cultivars Reveals Contrasting Carbohydrate and Fatty Acid Metabolic Pathway Modulation

“…They found at least 200 protein spots, and sequencing some of these proteins by MALDI-TOF-TOF-MS revealed homology to 7S globulin, glutelin and a putative receptor-like protein kinase. Recently, Ma et al [ 19 ], using shotgun protein sequencing of coconut solid endosperm, identified 1686 proteins. The in silico digestion of globulins and antioxidant proteins with pepsin and trypsin helped them to predict peptides with emulsifying and antioxidant activities.…”

Transcriptome profiling of high and low somatic embryogenesis rate of oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq. var. Tenera)

“…Vicilin-like protein encodes a storage protein located in the chloroplast as well as cytoplasm (Van de Vondel et al, 2020) that is found in cereal seeds and nuts (Burrieza et al, 2019). Vicilin-like proteins play roles in seed growth and response to external stress (Ma et al, 2022). Vicilin-like protein is also necessary for LEA protein coding for seed germination that was provided by ABA (Hu & Ma, 2006).…”