The flavor precursors of 17 species belonging to the Alliaceae family were analyzed by HPLC, and results were evaluated with respect to the classification of species into their genus, subgenus, and section. Identification and quantification of these precursors were carried out by synthetic and natural reference materials. In addition, nine of these species were investigated in terms of their alliinase activity. Alliinase (EC 4.4.1.4) catalyzes the conversion of odorless (+)-S-alk(en)yl-L-cysteine sulfoxides into volatile thiosulfinates. Cysteine sulfoxides as well as alliinase activity were found in all investigated samples, and (+)-S-methyl-L-cysteine sulfoxide was most abundant. (+)-S-Propyl-L-cysteine sulfoxide was detected in only a few, not closely related, species. Analysis of the crude protein extract of nine species gave evidence that alliinase activities of samples were similar in terms of pH and temperature optimum, K(M) value, and substrate specificity. For all investigated protein extracts, the highest specific alliinase activity was found for (+)-S-(2-propenyl)-L-cysteine sulfoxide (alliin). The substrate specificity of these enzymes was not related to relative abundance of the cysteine sulfoxides. However, SDS-PAGE yielded some significant differences among species in terms of their total protein compositions. Species belonging to different subgenera exhibited a specific protein pattern with molecular masses between 13 and 35 kDa.
The development of biosensors for analytical purposes has attracted a great deal of attention in recent years. A biosensor is defined as an analytical device consisting of a biological component (e.g., enzyme, antibody, entire cell, DNA) and a physical transducer (e.g., electrode, optical device). Biosensors are mostly designed for routine analysis, such as clinical diagnosis, quality control of food, in-process control of fermentations, and in environmental analysis. Many of these sensors are also suitable for screening purposes in order to find new drugs. Such systems should yield information either about compounds with known bioactivity or about the bioactivity of samples with known or unknown chemical composition. Biosensors intended for the latter purpose are essentially based on whole cells carrying receptors and ion channels at their surfaces. Miniaturization of structures, primarily based on silicon, allows integration of many sensors into arrays, which may be suitable for the screening of natural and chemical products as well as combinatorial libraries. Until now, no commercially available sensors of this kind exist but they are expected in the near future. Different biosensors, based on enzymes, antibodies, cells, artificial membranes and entire animal tissues, which can be used in drug discovery and may lead to efficient screening systems in the future, are described in this review.
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