Protein Precipitation Behavior of Condensed Tannins from Lotus pedunculatus and Trifolium repens with Different Mean Degrees of Polymerization.

The precipitation of bovine serum albumin (BSA), lysozyme (LYS), and alfalfa leaf protein (ALF) by two large- and two medium-sized condensed tannin (CT) fractions of similar flavan-3-ol subunit composition is described. CT fractions isolated from white clover flowers and big trefoil leaves exhibited high-purity profiles by 1D/2D NMR and purities >90% (determined by thiolysis). At pH 6.5, large CTs with a mean degree of polymerization (mDP) of ∼18 exhibited similar protein precipitation behaviors and were significantly more effective than medium CTs (mDP ∼9). Medium CTs exhibited similar capacities to precipitate ALF or BSA, but showed small but significant differences in their capacity to precipitate LYS. All CTs precipitated ALF more effectively than BSA or LYS. Aggregation of CT-protein complexes likely aided precipitation of ALF and BSA, but not LYS. This study, one of the first to use CTs of confirmed high purity, demonstrates that the mDP of CTs influences protein precipitation efficacy.

¹H-¹³C HSQC NMR spectroscopy for estimating procyanidin/prodelphinidin and cis/trans-flavan-3-ol ratios of condensed tannin samples: correlation with thiolysis.

Studies with a diverse array of 22 purified condensed tannin (CT) samples from nine plant species demonstrated that procyanidin/prodelphinidin (PC/PD) and cis/trans-flavan-3-ol ratios can be appraised by (1)H-(13)C HSQC NMR spectroscopy. The method was developed from samples containing 44-∼100% CT, PC/PD ratios ranging from 0/100 to 99/1, and cis/trans ratios ranging from 58/42 to 95/5 as determined by thiolysis with benzyl mercaptan. Integration of cross-peak contours of H/C-6' signals from PC and of H/C-2',6' signals from PD yielded nuclei-adjusted estimates that were highly correlated with PC/PD ratios obtained by thiolysis (R(2) = 0.99). cis/trans-Flavan-3-ol ratios, obtained by integration of the respective H/C-4 cross-peak contours, were also related to determinations made by thiolysis (R(2) = 0.89). Overall, (1)H-(13)C HSQC NMR spectroscopy appears to be a viable alternative to thiolysis for estimating PC/PD and cis/trans ratios of CT if precautions are taken to avoid integration of cross-peak contours of contaminants.

Proanthocyanidin diversity in the EU 'HealthyHay' sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia) germplasm collection.

This study investigated 37 diverse sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia Scop.) accessions from the EU 'HealthyHay' germplasm collection for proanthocyanidin (PA) content and composition. Accessions displayed a wide range of differences: PA contents varied from 0.57 to 2.80 g/100 g sainfoin; the mean degree of polymerisation from 12 to 84; the proportion of prodelphinidin tannins from 53% to 95%, and the proportion of trans-flavanol units from 12% to 34%. A positive correlation was found between PA contents (thiolytic versus acid-butanol degradation; P<0.001; R(2)=0.49). A negative correlation existed between PA content (thiolysis) and mDP (P<0.05; R(2)=-0.30), which suggested that accessions with high PA contents had smaller PA polymers. Cluster analysis revealed that European accessions clustered into two main groups: Western Europe and Eastern Europe/Asia. In addition, accessions from USA, Canada and Armenia tended to cluster together. Overall, there was broad agreement between tannin clusters and clusters that were based on morphological and agronomic characteristics.

Atlas of the tropical Pacific ocean annual cycle

Data for this Tropical Pacific Ocean Atlas comes from monthly gridded analyses of temperature and current data over a ten year (1983-1992)period generated by an ocean-data assimilation system at the National Meteorological Center, Washington D.C. This atlas showsmaps of the long-term mean, monthly standar deviation, mean anual cycle for suface and subsurface quanties of the tropical Pacific Ocean. The main focus of this atlas is subsurface variations, but the surface wind-stress curl and sea-surface temperature are also included for completeness. The main variables considered here are subsurface temperature, currents, and the depth of the 20ºC isotherm during the course of the annual cycle are also shown. Data are shown on level surfaces at selected depths, depth integrated, and on meridional and zonal cross sections (AU)