Abstract
Foxtail millet (Setaria italica) proteins were fractionated into five fractions, i.e., water-, salt-, ethanol-, sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)- and 2-mercaptoethanol (ME)-soluble fractions, by successive extraction with various solvents from millet flour. The proportion in each fraction was 7.2, 5.6, 40, 25 and 20% respectively, of total flour nitrogen. The proteins of the ethanol- and SDS-soluble proteins were similar in amino acid composition and molecular weight distribution. More than 15 different molecular weight classes of proteins ranging from 11000 to 150000 were distinguished by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis without prior reduction of their disulfide bonds. These major protein bands in the gel were estimated to be homo-olygomers (monomer, dimer, trimer, etc.) of subunit A or subunit B. The molecular weights of subunits A and B were 12000 and 17000, respectively. Subunits A and B were also different in amino acid composition: subunit A had higher content of methionine.
