iTRAQ analysis of low-phytate mung bean sprouts treated with sodium citrate, sodium acetate and sodium tartrate

- The common response is the enhanced phytic acid degradation and antioxidant enzymes.
- Up-regulated purple acid phosphatase and inositol-phosphate phosphatase were found.
- The inhibition effect by SA is probably due to protein biosynthesis impairment.
- Most of the differential proteins were involving carbohydrate and energy metabolism.
- The molecular mechanisms that contributed to the growth regulation were complex.

The effects of sodium citrate (SC), sodium acetate (SA) and sodium tartrate (ST) spraying on mung bean germination were investigated. Exogenous SC, ST and SA treatments significantly reduced the phytic acid content and increased the antioxidant enzyme activities. In this study, an iTRAQ-based proteomic approach was employed to explore the proteomes of mung bean sprouts, and 81, 101 and 90 differentially expressed proteins were identified in 4-day-old SC-, SA- and ST-treated mung bean sprouts, with 38 proteins present in all samples. Functional classification analysis showed that most of the differentially expressed proteins in mung bean sprouts subjected to the three treatments were involved in carbohydrate and energy metabolism. The inhibitory effect of the SA treatment was probably due to impairments in protein biosynthesis, whereas enhanced energy metabolism, accelerated reserve hydrolysis and protein processing were very important strategies for growth stimulation in response to ST and SC treatments.