Isolation,Purification and Partial Characterization of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Crotalaria pallida</Emphasis> Aiton Seed Proteins

Crotalaria pallida Aiton (Smooth rattlebox in English) is widely and wildly distributed in India. The seed of this plant is a valuable source of non-traditional proteins (about 22%) but attention was never been paid to explore the protein content. Chemical investigation has been conducted on Crotalaria pallida seeds (de-oiled) and proteins have been extracted in aqueous solution with different pHs or various concentrations of NaCl, KCl, Na₂SO₃ and CaCl₂·2H₂O at pH 7.0. The present study includes isolation, purification, and fractionation of seed protein along with its amino acid composition, molecular weight determination and surface topographies. Multiple polypeptide bands have been identified in the range of 16.5–61.6 kDa. The overall study confirms the seeds of this plant as an important source of unexplored protein.