Protein Concentrate Made from Pereskia aculeata Leaves

Abstract

Pereskia aculeata, Miller is a Cactaceae originally from the American continent, and despite its notable nutritional value, this species is little consumed as food. The aim was a comparison between two techniques: saline extraction and alkaline extraction for produce a protein concentrate through inexpensive and easily reproduced techniques. For the saline extractions, two salts, sodium chloride and sodium carbonate, were used with 0.1 M, 0.5 M, and 1 M concentration rates. The alkaline extraction was done isolated at pH 10 and combined with ultrasound in 1:10 and 1:20 plant/solvent dissolutions. The treatments have been through isoelectric precipitation with different pH rates and then were centrifuged. The proteins resulted from precipitation were quantified through the Bradford method. Moreover, the purity level of the recovered protein products was established, and the characterization of the proteins molecular weight was done with polyacrylamide gel at 12%. The results revealed that the alkaline extraction with ultrasound in 1:20 dissolution was the best treatment. The positive effects of the highest dissolution combined with the alkaline extraction with ultrasound were evident with 27.42% (w/w) average percentage of extracted protein. The electrophoresis gel revealed two key bands of 68 kDa and 168 kDa. It is concluded that this plant's leaves have the potential to become a low-cost and industrially feasible protein product.

Keywords:
Leafy cactus; Barbados gooseberry; Non-Conventional Food Plants; Supplement

HIGHLIGHTS

The Pereskia aculeata leaves displayed potential to generate a protein product.

The alkaline extraction with ultrasound in 1:20 (plant/solvent) dissolution was the best treatment.

The use of pH 4 to aid protein recovery accelerates the process and reduces its cost.