Researchers in the Resource Chemistry Laboratory of Xinjiang Institute of Physical and Chemical Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences have developed a method for extracting natural anti-tumor active protein and skin from chickpea chips. Relevant research results have been authorized by national invention patents.

Nowadays, tumor has become the second largest killer after cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, and searching for high-effective and low-toxic anti-tumor drugs has become one of the hotspots of related research worldwide. Bioactive skin is a kind of multifunctional compound which exists naturally in animals, plants and microorganisms. Bioactive skin can also be obtained from animal and plant proteins by proteolysis, artificial chemical synthesis and biological engineering. At present, hundreds of skin types have been found in organisms, and they are essential participants in completing various complex physiological activities.

Chickpea belongs to the pea family of Leguminosae. It has a history of 2500 years in Xinjiang. It is commonly used in Uygur medicine and has been included in the Pharmaceutical Standards of Uygur Medicine and Uygur Pharmacopoeia of the Ministry of Health. Although chickpea has a long history of medication, the functional factors of chickpea are not clear, especially the study of bioactive skin compounds is still blank.

The method of extracting natural anti-tumor active protein and skin from chickpea bean paste was studied. The protein and skin which could inhibit the activity of colon cancer cells could be obtained by extracting with phosphoric acid buffer solution, precipitating with sulfuric acid, desalting and centrifuging. This provides a basis for the basic research of bioactive substances and the corresponding product development of the Uygur medicinal and edible plant chickpea.

According to the researchers, this method is simple in extraction process, and it is not easy to deactivate protein and skin. The prepared skin has high bioactivity, non-toxicity, good thermal stability, is easy to expand the scale of production, can reduce the cost of extraction process, is one of the ideal methods to extract and prepare bioactive protein and skin. The protein and skin obtained by this method can be used to prepare functional food or pharmaceutical additives.