Oh, the thrilling world of glue. Yes, you read that right. We’re diving deep into the sticky realm of plant-based adhesives, where wheat is not just for bread anymore, folks. It’s for sticking things together—like the pages of the ancient tomes you’ve only seen in movies. But not all wheat goos are created equal. We’ve got the starch paste, the introvert of adhesives, and the flour paste, the life of the party thanks to its gluten proteins.

Why does this matter, you ask? Well, for those in the conservation game, knowing your paste is like knowing your best friend’s dietary restrictions—crucial for a long and healthy relationship. Enter our heroes: the scientists with a plan to dissect these pastes down to their protein content. How, you wonder? By throwing a party with a guest list that includes 0.5 M NaCl and a buffet of other chemical delights designed to coax proteins out of their sticky shell.

The result? Flour paste is the social butterfly, boasting a proteome with 1942 proteins across 759 groups. Starch paste, on the other hand, is more of a homebody, with a mere 218 proteins. It seems transforming into paste simplifies their social circles quite a bit.

But wait, there’s more! Our intrepid researchers didn’t stop at just identifying these proteins; they took their detective skills to historical bookbindings to see these adhesives in action. And guess what? Flour-based glue, rich in gluten and serpins, was the star of the show. However, it seems time has taken its toll, with high levels of deamidation spotted, hinting at potential issues with solubility and stability. Because, of course, even adhesives have their mid-life crises.

And for those who can’t get enough of this sticky saga, the mass spectrometry proteomics data has been graciously deposited for public viewing. So, if you’ve ever lain awake at night wondering about the protein content of your book’s glue, rest easy. Science has got you covered.