Optimizing protein extraction from plant tissues for enhanced proteomics analysis

Plant tissues usually contain high levels of proteases and secondary metabolites that severely interfere with protein extraction, separation, and identification. Preparation of high-quality protein samples from plant tissues for proteomic analysis represents a great challenge. This article briefly describes the critical points in protein separation, especially secondary metabolites in plant tissues, and removal strategy. It provides an updated overview of three total protein extraction methods and their applications in proteomic analysis of various recalcitrant tissues.