RESUMO

The link between excessive consumption of dietary saturated fats and coronary heart disease (CHD) is now well established. Because of its high content of saturated fatty acids, the consumption of foods containing coconut oil may therefore be a risk factor for CHD. While the fatty acid composition of coconut oil is well established, relatively little is known about the other constituents of coconut: the milk, water, cream and meat fractions. In this study, we show that while the water fraction is low in lipid content, the milk contains about 24% of the fat content of oil and the cream and meat fractions about 34%. The other coconut constituents contain significant amounts of medium-chain triglycerides that are formed from fatty acids of chain length 8:0 to 14:0. It is these fatty acids, primarily 14:0, that are thought to be atherogenic. On the other hand, medium-chain triglycerides may be advantageous under some circumstances in that they are absorbed intact and do not undergo degradation and re-esterification processes. As a result, medium-chain triglycerides provide a ready source of energy and may be useful in baby foods or in diet therapy. Nevertheless, the possible negative effects of the saturated fatty acids and the absence of the essential fatty acid linolenic acid from all coconut constituents suggest that the coconut milk, oil and cream should not be used on a regular basis in adults.

Assuntos

RESUMO

The link between excessive composition of dietary saturated fats and coronary heart disease (CHD) is now well established. Because of its high content of saturated fatty acids, the composition of foods containing coconut oil may therefore be a risk factor for CHD. While the fatty acid composition of coconut oil is well established, relatively little is known about the other constituents of coconut: the milk, water, cream and meat fractions. In this study, we show that while the water fraction is low in lipid content, the milk contains about 24 percent of the fat content of oil and the cream and meat fractions about 34 percent. The other coconut constituents contain significant amounts of medium-chain triglycerides that are formed from fatty acids of chain length 8:0 to 14:0. It is these fatty acids, primarily 14:0, that are thought to be atherogenic. On the other hand, medium-chain triglycerides provide a ready source of energy and may be useful in baby foods or in diet therapy. Nevertheless, the possible negative effects of the saturated acids and the absence of the essential fatty acid linolenic acid from all coconut constituents suggest that the coconut milk, oil and cream should not be used on a regular basis in adults. (AU)

Assuntos

RESUMO

The link between excessive composition of dietary saturated fats and coronary heart disease (CHD) is now well established. Because of its high content of saturated fatty acids, the composition of foods containing coconut oil may therefore be a risk factor for CHD. While the fatty acid composition of coconut oil is well established, relatively little is known about the other constituents of coconut: the milk, water, cream and meat fractions. In this study, we show that while the water fraction is low in lipid content, the milk contains about 24 percent of the fat content of oil and the cream and meat fractions about 34 percent. The other coconut constituents contain significant amounts of medium-chain triglycerides that are formed from fatty acids of chain length 8:0 to 14:0. It is these fatty acids, primarily 14:0, that are thought to be atherogenic. On the other hand, medium-chain triglycerides provide a ready source of energy and may be useful in baby foods or in diet therapy. Nevertheless, the possible negative effects of the saturated acids and the absence of the essential fatty acid linolenic acid from all coconut constituents suggest that the coconut milk, oil and cream should not be used on a regular basis in adults.

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RESUMO

The tuberous roots of the Mexican yam bean, jicama, (Pachyrhizus erosus L. Urban) contained large quantities of two acidic glycoproteins which accounted for more than 70% of the total soluble proteins (about 3 g per 100 g of tuber on a dry weight basis). The two major proteins, tentatively named YBG1 and YBG2, had apparent M(r)s of 28,000 and 26,000, respectively, by SDS-PAGE. A third protein named YBP22 which accounted for 2-5% of the total soluble proteins had an M(r) of 22,000. YBG1 and YBG2 exhibited great similarity on the basis of their amino acid composition and had identical N-terminal amino acid sequences. The first 23 amino acids in the N-terminal region of YBG2 were DDLPDYVDWRDYGAVTRIKNQGQ which showed strong homology with the papain class of cysteine proteases. YBG1 and YBG2 were found to bind to a Concanavalin A-Sepharose column and were also stained positively by a sensitive glycoprotein stain. Both glycoproteins exhibited cysteine proteolytic activity. In contrast, YBP22 showed sequence homology with several known protease inhibitors, and a polyclonal antibody raised against this protein cross reacted with soybean trypsin inhibitor.

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RESUMO

Calmodulin is an ubiquitous, malfunctional 17kDa, acidic protein which is activated by Ca2+ and regualates the function of many enzymes and other cellular proteins. A novel bovine heart high molecular weight Ca2+ /Calmodulin-binding protein was recently reported by Sharma (J.Biol. Chem. 265, 1152-1157, 1990) and Barnes and Sharma (Faseb J. 5 449, 1991). In this work, we have investigated the distribution of this 175 kDA protein (Mr 140 000) in various bovine tissues. The polyclonal antibody to the protein was used to show its presence in the heart, lung, brain and pancreas but not in spleen, Kidney, uterus and skeletal muscles. The protein was phosphorylated by a novel endogenous protein kinase with a stoichiometry of 1 mole of phosphate incorporated per mole of protein in a Ca2+ /Calmodulin-dependant manner(AU)

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