ABSTRACT
World maize production has increased rapidly and has surpassed the 400 million tons/year level; together with wheat and rice it is the cereal produced in the greatest quantity. The amount of zein, the major maize endosperm storage protein, is also reduced in seeds with the homozygous sugary-1 mutation, the gene for common sweet maize. A minor protein fraction named reduced soluble protein was extracted from either the salt-soluble fraction or the total zein fraction, depending on which solvent contained a reducing agent. The reduced soluble protein has a unique amino acid composition with much more proline, histidine, cysteine, glycine, and valine and less aspartate, alanine, glutamic acid, and leucine than zein. The germ of maize is potentially a copious source of protein for human use. It can be used directly or in defatted form in the baking industry or in the form of protein preparations (protein concentrates), as well as for protein enrichment or protein substitution in different food products.
