Lupin, a member of Fabaceae family is the largest pulse crop grown in Australia. Lupin seeds have favourable nutritional composition including high protein and fibre content and low levels of carbohydrate and fat. This prospective superfood has many health-promoting effects and can be used as a novel plant-based protein source to complement traditional sources.
Narrow-leafed lupin (NLL; Lupinus angustifolius) is the dominant lupin species grown in Australia, domesticated in the 1960s. For this study liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) was employed for the comprehensive proteome analysis of mature seeds from the two Australian NLL cultivars: Tanjil and Unicrop.
Workflows employing data dependent acquisition (DDA) and quantitative data independent acquisition (DIA, using SWATH-MS) were undertaken on a on a TripleTOF 6600 (SCIEX) mass spectrometer. Using a bottom-up proteomics approach exploring different protein extraction methods, the urea-based buffer yielded the highest number of protein identifications from defatted seeds of cultivars Tanjil and Unicrop (1443 and 1430 proteins respectively). The protein functional classes and protein abundances were contrasted in the solvent-extracted proteomes of these two lupin cultivars.
Proteomic studies of genetically diverse lupin varieties under different environmental conditions has the potential to impact lupin crop improvement programs. These programs aim to increase the nutritional value of lupin, while adapting to climatic and environmental challenges.