Chemical Characterization and Nutritional Analysis of Protein Isolates from Caragana korshinskii Kom

Plant-based proteins are valuable supplements to compensate the gap between supply and demand in the food or feed industry. However, they lack essential amino acids, such as lysine in cereal grains and sulfur-containing amino acids in legumes, which greatly limit their wider uses for human and animals. In this study, the contents of nutritional ingredients and antinutritional factors of Caragana korshinskii Kom. and its protein isolates were quantitatively investigated. It was shown that the crude protein contents of C. korshinskii Kom. and its protein isolates obtained by alkaline extraction method (Al-CPI) and acetone precipitation method (A-CPI) were 9.1, 50.1, and 42.6%, respectively. Amino acid contents in C. korshinskii Kom., Al-CPI, and A-CPI basically exceeded the FAO/WHO (2007) reference pattern for adults except sulfur-containing amino acids. The lysine levels in C. korshinskii Kom., Al-CPI, and A-CPI were 4.1, 3.1, and 3.8 mg/100 mg crude protein respectively, which were higher than some other kinds of cereal grains. The methionine in A-CPI (1.39 mg/100 mg crude protein) was even higher than that in soybean. The antinutritional factors in C. korshinskii Kom. and Al-CPI were generally lower than those in some other kinds of legumes except total phenol and tannin. Total phenol and tannins in Al-CPI were 19.02 and 5.66 mg/g dry substance, respectively, but they were undetectable in A-CPI. This study provided a detailed analysis on nutritional and antinutritional factors in C. korshinskii Kom. and its protein isolates, indicating that they have a great potential on food and feed additives.