A variety of proteins were purified from cotton seeds and were analysed by amino acid sequence determination (automated Edman degradation) and by state-of-the-art electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESMS).

In cotton, the best known of the secondary metabolites isolated, Gossypol, have been found to have antifungal and antitumour activity (Harborne and Baxter, 1993) and to target enzymes in the signal transduction system