THE CHANGES OF PROTEIN-PATTERNS DURING ONE WEEK OF GERMINATION OF SOME LEGUME SEEDS AND ROOTS

This study was carried out in order to evaluate some Egyptian legume seeds (Vicia faba, Cicer arietinum and Lupinus termes) as raw and germinated foods, as sources of plant proteins. The work was extended to study the changes of the seed and root proteins during 7 days of germination. The results are summarised as follows: (1) The proteins of ungerminated seeds were resolved on SDS-PAGE into a number of bands and their molecular weights were determined: chick-peas, 19 (8-78 kDa); faba beans, 20 (11-96 kDa) and lupins 19 (14-86 kDa). (2) The changes in the seed and root proteins during 7 days of germination of the V. faba, C. arietinum and L. termes showed the following: The number of seed bands of C. arietinum, V. faba and L. termes at the first day were 19 (12-89 kDa), 25 (12-98 kDa) and 16 (12-98 kDa); they decreased up to the seventh day of germination to 12, 22 and 9 bands, respectively. The number of root bands were 13 (13.5-89 kDa), 23 (12-98 kDa) and 19 (13-96 kDa), respectively. The number of seed stable (constant) proteins during the 7 days of germination were 8, 4 and 0 proteins for C. arietinum, V. faba and L. termes, respectively. The roots contained 4, 3 and 1 proteins, respectively. V. faba and L. termes were the predominant seeds, containing high-molecular-weight reserve proteins which degraded and disappeared within the first 3 days of germination to give smaller peptides or amino acids. New synthesised proteins were found and this was especially marked in L. termes seeds. It was noticed that all three seeds contained newly synthesised proteins, mainly up to the third day of germination and the numbers of these proteins were found to be 4, 4 and 3 proteins for C. arietinum, V. faba and L. termes, respectively. In roots there were 5, 4 and 0 proteins, respectively.