Effect of different proteolytic enzymes on the nature of subunit composition of arachins from groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.).

Arachin, the major protein from groundnut, was isolated from three varieties of groundnut (Spanish Improved, TMV-2 and DH-3-30) using a modified procedure involving precipitation with 18% ammonium sulphate to obtain homogeneous protein. The homogeneity was judged by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, gel filtration and sedimentation velocity techniques as well as correlation with amino acid composition. Rates of hydrolysis of arachins by trypsin (pH 7.6) and alpha-chymotrypsin (pH 7.8) were significantly different between the three varieties. Arachin from the Spanish Improved variety contained higher amounts of alanine and phenylalanine and lower amounts of carbohydrate and phosphorus as compared to TMV-2 and DH-3-30. Sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis pattern of arachin from TMV-2 showed only seven bands of which the ones with low molecular weight were more intense than those of the other two varieties. The far-ultraviolet circular dichroic spectra showed no significant differences among the three varieties in respect of alpha-helix content (5 +/- 2%), beta-structure (19 +/- 2%) and the aperiodic structure. The observed differences in hydrolysis rates have been explained as due to the differences in the acidic and basic subunits of arachins.