Variation of Protein Content and Amino Acid Composition in Perilla Germplasm

To obtain the basic informations on quality improvement, seed protein and amino acid composition were analyzed in 460 strains of perilla germplasm. Among the tested strains, total protein content ranged from 17.9% to 28.1 % with the 23.6% of varietal means. Form the experiment, Namji, Sandong, and Eunjin were selected as high protein strains of which content was as high as 28.1%. In protein content, collected strains from Jeonnam province showed highest, and was not significantly different by maturity, but this characteristics showed differences by seed coat color and 1,000 seed weight. The significantly negative correlation was observed between protein content and seed setting ratio. However it was observed that significant and high positive correlation between protein and oil content. A calibration for an Infra-Alyzer 450 using log reflectance readings at 2208, 1982, 1940 and 1722nm could be used without adjustment for the measurment of the protein content in perilla with a standard deviation of differences against micro-kjeldahl of 0.27%. The amino acid composition of perilla was similar to the other oilseed crops, and showed a relatively high lysine and methionine content. Further, amino acid composition of perilla seed was exellently characterized with bal ance and higher than FAO recommendation. Major amino acids were indentified as a glutamic acid and arginine in perilla seed protein.