[Protein fraction distribution in milling and screened physical fractions of grain amaranth]

The purpose of the study was to establish the protein distribution based on solubility in physical fractions of amaranth flour, in particular between the flour from the germ and that from the perisperm. The protein distribution was obtained applying a series of solvents sequentially utilized in the classical methodology of Osborne & Mendel. The sample of A. cruentus weighing 2000 g was divided into 4 subsamples of 500 g each. One was left as the control while the other 3 were ground individually with a mill. Each flour was screened through 18, 20, 30 and 40 mesh screens, so that 5 fractions were obtained from each of the whole grain flours. Samples of each screened fractions were observed by stereoscopy and analyzed for moisture, fat and protein. This characterization suggested that the fraction above the 30 mesh screen and the flour which passed the 40 mesh screen probably were the perisperm and germ respectively. The 30 mesh sample contained 2.34 fat and 9.05% protein while the 40 mesh contained 16.18% fat and 26.46% protein. The extraction and partitioning of the proteins indicated that the most important fractions in germ and perisperm were the water soluble and glutelins measured by Kjeldahl. The relationship of the water soluble + globulin to glutelins ratio was 2.1 to 1 in the whole grain, 1.9 to 1 in the perisperm and 1.7 to 1 in the germ. The distribution of proteins was very much alike between germ and perisperm. The levels of prolamines were quite low. The protein extraction of the perisperm proteins retained on the 30 mesh screen was low (71.1%) measured by Kjeldahl and 47.4% with the Bradford method to measure protein.