REDUCING THE OLIGOSACCHARIDE AND ANTI-NUTRITIONAL FACTORS CONTENTS OF TWO UNDERUTILIZED GRAIN LEGUMES OF SOUTHWEST NIGERIA

O.C. Adebooye
The underutilisation of two indigenous grain legumes (Mucuna pruriens and Cajanus cajan) of Southwest Nigeria (SW) could be linked to the long cooking period due to the need to remove the deep brown colour and bitter taste in the seed through multiple draining of the water used in cooking. It often takes approximately 6-8 hours of effective cooking to satisfactorily remove the unwanted colour and bitter taste. In this study, the effect of decortication and cooking on oligosaccharides and anti-nutrient contents of the two legumes was investigated. Results showed that decortication resulted in about five hours’ reduction in cooking time for both legumes. The analyses also showed that a bulk of the oligosaccharides: raffinose, stachyose, and verbascose (90-95%) reside in the cotyledon and not in the seed coat because decortication resulted in negligible reduction of oligosaccharide contents of the two legumes. Decorticated grains lost approximately 70-85% of the oligosaccharides while the whole grain lost 24-66% after cooking. This shows that the seed coat is a barrier to the removal of the oligosaccharides. Decortication resulted in significant reduction of the phenolics, tannins, and oxalate compared with the whole grains. Upon cooking, less than 3% of the anti-nutrients were retained in the decorticated grains whereas more than 35% were retained in the cooked whole grains. It is established in this study that significant contents of these anti-nutrients reside in the seed coat. The brown colouration of the cooking water and bitter taste were also eliminated by decortication followed by cooking. The significant reduction in cooking time as a result of decortication will lead to reduction in the cost of fuel required for cooking while the reduction in the levels of anti-nutrients implies better health for consumers.
Adebooye, O.C. (2009). REDUCING THE OLIGOSACCHARIDE AND ANTI-NUTRITIONAL FACTORS CONTENTS OF TWO UNDERUTILIZED GRAIN LEGUMES OF SOUTHWEST NIGERIA. Acta Hortic. 806, 355-360
DOI: 10.17660/ActaHortic.2009.806.44
https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2009.806.44
legumes, underutilized species, oligosaccharides, anti-nutrients
English

Acta Horticulturae