D'Cunha, M; Sridhar, KR; Arun, AB
Uncooked and cooked sprouted seeds of wild legume Canavalia maritima grown on the coastal sand dunes of Southwest coast of India were evaluated for proximate composition, mineral constituents, amino acids, fatty acid methyl esters, in vitro protein digestibility and antinutritional factors. Among proximate composition, moisture, ash and nitrogen-free extractives significantly differed between uncooked and cooked seeds. Crude protein, crude lipid, crude fiber, nitrogen-free extractives and calorific value ranged from 27.9-29%, 2.8-2.9% and 1.1-1.4%, 62.8-66.1% and 1668-1678 kJ 100/g respectively. True protein and protein fractions are significantly decreased on cooking sprouted seeds and the albumin fraction was highest in uncooked (12.8%) and cooked seeds (4%). Prominent bands of albumin and globulin of uncooked sprouted seeds on SDS-PAGE become faint or smear-like in cooked seeds shows their partial denaturation. Most of the minerals in sprouted seeds drained on cooking, but magnesium, iron, copper and manganese fulfill the NRC-NAS recommended pattern. Among essential amino acids (EAA), Threonine, valine, isoleucine, leucine, phenylalanine + tyrosine, lysine and histidine of cooked seeds surpassed the FAO-WHO recommended pattern. The histidine was comparable to the whole egg protein (2.6 vs. 2.4%). The in vitro protein digestibility of sprouted seeds significantly elevated on cooking (44.4 vs. 73.4%). The protein digestibility corrected to amino acid score of EAA were also elevated in cooked seeds (27.9-57.7 vs. 45.5-110.3%). The essential fatty acids (linoleic and linolenic acids) were increased in cooked seeds. Sprouted seeds were devoid of tannins and trypsin inhibitors, while total phenolics and hemagglutination activity substantially decreased on cooking. Although the overall nutritional qualities of the sprouted seeds of C. maritima improved on cooking and superior than dry seeds, alternate strategies of processing in addition to sprouting is necessary to completely eliminate the hemagglutinins to enhance its utility. © 2011 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.