Lab-on-a-chip technology in cereal science: Analytical properties and possible application areas

The utilisation of microchip capillary electrophoresis has the potential to improve the capability of high throughput sample analysis of biomolecules. The aim of this study was to review this capability for cereal protein analysis.The commercially available lab-on-a-chip (LOC) technology was characterised in the separation of total proteins extracted from whole wheat meals. Important analytical parameters (such as repeatability) of both qualitative (molecular size estimation) and quantitative (relative percentage of total protein) aspects of LOC data were determined and discussed in the light of the need of possible applications. It revealed that the LOC has very good repeatability and reproducibility parameters; however the non-globular structure of the proteins can highly affect the sizing accuracy. Among other applications, the profiles were found to be suitable for wheat cultivar identification and to monitor environment related alterations on protein composition.After a confirmation process the LOC can be an appropriate tool for fast protein profile screening in cereal science and technology in diverse applications, and it can complement the conventional methods of analysis