Comparison of Yield Characteristics, Chemical Composition, Lignans Content and Antioxidant Potential of Experimentally Grown Six Linseed (Linum usitatissimum L.) Cultivars.

Linseed represents a rich source of nutritional, functional and health-beneficial compounds. Nevertheless, the chemical composition and content of bioactive compounds may be quite variable and potentially affected by various factors, including genotype and the environment. In this study, the proximate chemical composition, lignans content and antioxidant potential of six experimentally grown linseed cultivars were assessed and compared. A diagonal cultivation trial in the University of South Bohemia Experimental Station in Ceské Budejovice, Czech Republic, was established in three subsequent growing seasons (2018, 2019 and 2020). The results showed that the cultivar and growing conditions influenced most studied parameters. The lack of precipitation in May and June 2019 negatively affected the seed yield and the level of secoisolariciresinol diglucoside but did not decrease the crude protein content, which was negatively related to the oil content. The newly developed method for lignans analysis allowed the identification and quantification of secoisolariciresinol diglucoside and matairesinol. Their content correlated positively with the total polyphenol content and antioxidant assays (DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging activity), indicating the significant contribution to the biofunctional properties of linseed. On the other hand, we did not detect minor linseed lignans, pinoresinol and lariciresinol. The results of this study showed the importance of cultivar and growing conditions factors on the linseed chemical composition and the lignans content, determining its nutritional and medicinal properties.

Proteomic characterization and antifungal activity of potato tuber proteins isolated from starch production waste under different temperature regimes.

Proteins were obtained from effluent of a starch manufacture by using different isolation temperatures (40, 60, 80, and 100 °C). The proteins, remaining in effluent after treatment of potato juice at 80 and 100 °C differed significantly in composition and in structural stability as well as in trypsin inhibitory and antifungal activities in comparison with the variants of 40 and 60 °C. The protein samples of 80 °C exhibited the highest antifungal activity and its average value of IC50 against five strains of two Fusarium species was determined in average at 0.18 mg ml-1. The 80 °C protein samples consisted predominantly of low-molecular proteins (7-17 kDa) identified as potato tuber protease inhibitors I and II. Predominantly, protease inhibitors II were identified for the protein samples obtained by 100 °C and here we identified 7 spots in comparison with 12 identified for the 80 °C samples. Samples of 40 and 60 °C with low antifungal activities represent high variability of detected and identified proteins. We identified various representatives of aspartic, cysteine, and serine protease inhibitors in both types of samples. These samples also contained Kunitz-type protease inhibitors that were not found in the 80 and 100 °C samples which documented thermal unstableness of Kunitz-type protease inhibitors. Functional stability at high temperatures and antifungal activity of isolated potato protease inhibitors I and II support the potential of this fraction usage in food, feed, pharmaceutical, or agricultural industry and offer new products for starch manufactures. At the same time, utilization of the stable protein fraction of waste deproteinized potato water promotes exploitation of potato starch production resources.

Proteomic Profile of Flaxseed (Linum usitatissimum L.) Products as Influenced by Protein Concentration Method and Cultivar.

The research is focused on the quantitative evaluation of the flaxseed (Linum usitatissimum L.) proteome at the level of seed cake (SC), fine flour-sieved a fraction below 250 µm (FF)-and protein concentrate (PC). The evaluation was performed on three oilseed flax cultivars (Agriol, Raciol, and Libra) with different levels of α-linolenic acid content using LC-MS/MS (shotgun proteomics) analysis, which was finalized by database searching using the NCBI protein database for Linum usitatissimum and related species. A total of 2560 protein groups (PGs) were identified, and their relative abundance was calculated. A set of 33 quantitatively most significant PGs was selected for further characterization. The selected PGs were divided into four classes-seed storage proteins (11S globulins and conlinins), oleosins, defense- and stress-related proteins, and other major proteins (mainly including enzymes). Seed storage proteins were found to be the most abundant proteins. Specifically, 11S globulins accounted for 41-44% of SC proteins, 40-46% of FF proteins, and 72-84% of PC proteins, depending on the cultivar. Conlinins (2S albumins) were the most abundant in FF, ranging from 10 to 13% (depending on cultivar). The second most important class from the point of relative abundance was oleosins, which were represented in SC and FF in the range of 2.1-3.8%, but only 0.36-1.20% in PC. Surprisingly, a relatively high abundance of chitinase was found in flax products as a protein related to defence and stress reactions.

Proteomic Profiles of Whole Seeds, Hulls, and Dehulled Seeds of Two Industrial Hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) Cultivars.

As a source of nutritionally important components, hemp seeds are often dehulled for consumption and food applications by removing the hard hulls, which increases their nutritional value. The hulls thus become waste, although they may contain valuable protein items, about which there is a lack of information. The present work is therefore aimed at evaluating the proteome of hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) at the whole-seed, dehulled seed, and hull levels. The evaluation was performed on two cultivars, Santhica 27 and Uso-31, using LC-MS/MS analysis. In total, 2833 protein groups (PGs) were identified, and their relative abundances were determined. A set of 88 PGs whose abundance exceeded 1000 ppm (MP88 set) was considered for further evaluation. The PGs of the MP88 set were divided into ten protein classes. Seed storage proteins were found to be the most abundant protein class: the averages of the cultivars were 65.5%, 71.3%, and 57.5% for whole seeds, dehulled seeds, and hulls, respectively. In particular, 11S globulins representing edestin (three PGs) were found, followed by 7S vicilin-like proteins (four PGs) and 2S albumins (two PGs). The storage 11S globulins in Santhica 27 and Uso-31 were found to have a higher relative abundance in the dehulled seed proteome (summing to 58.6 and 63.2%) than in the hull proteome (50.5 and 54%), respectively. The second most abundant class of proteins was oleosins, which are part of oil-body membranes. PGs belonging to metabolic proteins (e.g., energy metabolism, nucleic acid metabolism, and protein synthesis) and proteins related to the defence and stress responses were more abundant in the hulls than in the dehulled seeds. The hulls can, therefore, be an essential source of proteins, especially for medical and biotechnological applications. Proteomic analysis has proven to be a valuable tool for studying differences in the relative abundance of proteins between dehulled hemp seeds and their hulls among different cultivars.