Legumes and a cereal with high methionine/cysteine contents

Abstract

The amino acid and chemical composition of seeds from three lesser known legume species and an African cereal with high Met + Cys contents is presented. Mesquite (Prosopis spp.): 41% protein, 2.5% Met + Cys. Djenkol bean (Pithecellobium lobatum): immature seeds, 32% protein, 2.8% Met + Cys; mature seeds, 16% protein, 3.9% Met + Cys. Tamarind seeds (Tamarindus indica): 18% protein, 3.5% Met + Cys. Acha (Digitaria exilis): 8% protein, 7.3% Met + Cys. Threonine is the first limiting amino acid for mesquite and tamarind while leucine is for Djenkol bean. The overall chemical scores are as follows: mesquite, 55; Djenkol bean, (immature) 31, (mature) 38; tamarind, 80. Tamarind seed protein has a very favorable amino acid balance and deserves further study. These legumes can not only complement cereals but supplement legumes with lower Met + Cys contents as well. The exceptionally high Met + Cys content of the cereal Acha makes it an excellent complement to legumes.

Nutritional quality, functional properties and anti-nutrient compositions of the larva of Cirina forda (Westwood) (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae)

“…Vijayakumari et al(1997) reported that 513 mg of phytic acid is present in 100 g of P. chilensis. P. chilensis is a legume that is very rich in methionine and cystine (de Lumen et al, 1986). Enujiugha and Ayodele-Oni (2003) reported that tannin was not detected in C. forda.…”

Chemical composition, protein fractionation, essential amino acid potential and antimetabolic constituents of an unconventional legume, Gila bean (Entada phaseoloides Merrill) seed kernel

“…For this reason, this tribal pulse deserves further study, since it can be used as a genetic resource to improve the protein quality of other plant foods through molecular biology techniques, as it is expected that the high methionine cystine content might be due to sulphur amino acid-rich protein. 56 In general, a characteristic amino acid pro®le of high glutamic and aspartic acid content in the Gila bean seed kernel is common in both albumin and globulin fractions as discussed above. However, each of the fractions is distinct with respect to its amino acid composition.…”

A review of acacic acid-type saponins from Leguminosae-Mimosoideae as potent cytotoxic and apoptosis inducing agents

“…The seeds of Pithecellobium species are traditionally used worldwide as both a food and a feedstuff (Candlish et al 1987;Misra and Nigam 1978;De Lumen et al 1986;Rackis et al 1986;Sotelo et al 1990;Toure et al 1998 . 13) (Ma et al 2008).…”