PROTEINS AND GLUCOSINOLATES COMPOSITION OF <i>JARILLA CAUDATA</i> AND <i>CARICA PAPAYA</i> ( <i>CARICACEAE</i> ) SEEDS

Abstract There is limited information on the chemical composition of Jarilla caudata seeds, a species within the Caricaceae family closely related to Carica papaya. The proteins in J. caudata seeds have been characterized by SDS-PAGE, gel filtration chromatography, and amino acids analysis, and glucosinolates have been analyzed. Chemical score, protein efficiency ratio (PER), and biological value (BV) as defined by FAO/WHO essential amino acid requirements, were calculated. J. caudata seed proteins are deficient in threonine and leucine but have relatively high contents of lysine and tryptophan. The proportion of essential amino acids relative to total amino acids and FAO recommendations was similar in J. caudata and C. papaya seeds (38.98% vs. 46.04%). However, the theoretical BV of J. caudata proteins was much higher than that of C. papaya (58.75 vs. 18.6). Gel filtration chromatography revealed a major protein peak in J. caudata representing 75.6% of the total protein fraction and corresponding to a molecular weight of approximately 92.4 kDa. Regarding glucosinolates, C. papaya seeds contained only glucotropaeolin (benzyl-glucosinolate), whereas J. caudata seeds contained glucotropaeolin and gluconapin (butenyl-glucosinolate). Overall, these results indicate that J. caudata seeds is a nutritionally promising and bioactive-rich plant resource, with potential applications in food and feed formulations.