Storage proteins
Storage proteins are proteins in an organism that represent a food source for its growth ( reserve material ). Usually the term vegetable proteins are meant, which are found in large quantities in seeds and serve as a source of amino acids for the germinating plant. In a broader sense, iron storage proteins such as ferritin can also be referred to as storage proteins. Plant-based storage proteins are mixtures of proteins and can act as allergens for some people.
Storage proteins are of enormous agricultural importance. On the one hand, they are important proteins in the animal feed of many pets and also find their way into human nutrition via the food chain . On the other hand, they themselves serve as food for humans.
The storage proteins are collected by the adult plant either in vacuoles or freely in the cytosol of the nutrient tissue cells as insoluble crystals (so-called aleurone ). At the same time, moisture is withdrawn from the nutrient tissue. The storage proteins are therefore only available again after moistening: at this point, however, the seed is already separated from the mother plant and can access it alone.
A useful classification of the vegetable storage proteins results from their solubility in salt-free or salty water: albumins and globulins dissolve well, prolamines only in 60–80% ethanol and gluteline only in acid.
Individual evidence
- ↑ UniProt: Keyword Storage Protein
- ^ Duden online: Aleuron
- ↑ Gerhard Richter: Metabolic physiology of plants . Thieme, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-13-442006-6 , p. 483 ff .