Making progress in plant proteomics for improved food safety

With the advent of population increase and a growing need of food worldwide, plant-food demand should increase in the decades to come. Therefore, plant analysis focuses the attention of scientists for a better understanding of their involvement in food and the need of novel analytical methods for improved traceability. Plant-food proteomics is here discussed at the light of technologies capable of elucidating the content of low-abundance proteins, those species that are generally undetectable because their signal is masked by other concentrated species and also are at a concentration below the sensitivity of available methods. A well-known method (combinatorial peptide ligand libraries) is here highlighted for at least three most important applications, a larger deciphering of plant proteomes, the detection of food and beverage contaminants, and the identification of novel allergens. These applications are at the service of enhanced food security in terms of genuineness, frauds, and possible detection of GMO products by the way of proteome analysis or genetic functional expression rather than the static genome. From the current situation, it could be possible to envision the future applications of this important discipline.