Trypsin and Chymotrypsin Proteinase Inhibitors from Cereal Seed Extracts

Proteinase inhibitory activity was assayed from the seeds of 57 accessions of five species of cereal germplasms. Barley and maize had both trypsin inhibitory (TI) and chymotrypsin inhibitory (CI) activity. Chymotrypsin inhibitory activity is not found in the accessions of rice, wheat and oats studied. TI and CI activities in barley and maize are higher than those of the other cereals tested. Oat accessions contained the lowest trypsin inhibitory activity. TI protein was highest in barley accession IC82680 followed by maize CIMMYT line 51705 and lowest in rice cultivar, Pusa Sugandha. Protein and CIU content were positively correlated in barley (r=0.877**). TI and CI activity are positively correlated in barley seed extracts