Journal of Proteomics Gets Weird

Harry Belafonte and the secret proteome of coconut milk sounds like a bad detective novel from the 50s (maybe even a radio show). Really, it’s the title of a January 2012 paper in the Journal of Proteomics. After the title, the abstract calms down a bit. They talk about mapping the proteome (proteins expressed by a genome) of coconut milk. Their reason for doing this pain staking work is to create a starting point to discover the proteins responsible for the beneficial health effects often attributed to coconut milk.

And then there’s the graphical abstract:

And their wonderful caption: “Here is your coconut woman, as perhaps envisioned by Harry Belafonte. For its proteome, though, have a look at the report inside!”

They also have a list of highlights about coconut milk.

• The beverage promoted by Harry Belafonte since at least 1957!
• A most nutritious beverage in vogue in the Caribbean and all over the world.
• A grand total of 307 unique gene products detected.
• Now you know what is the proteome in your Mocha Coconut or Coconut Crème Cappuccino or even in your Piña colada.

In the introduction they even have a recipe for a Batida de Côco coctail (“coconut milk is mixed with sugar and cachaça”). The paper then goes on to talk about proteomics and gel electrophoresis and mass spectrometry, but, man, did they really put some effort into making their work “interesting.”