U. Chitra et al., EFFECT OF VARIETIES AND PROCESSING METHODS ON THE TOTAL AND IONIZABLEIRON CONTENTS OF GRAIN LEGUMES, Journal of agricultural and food chemistry, 45(10), 1997, pp. 3859-3862
A comparison of the commonly consumed Indian pulses with soybean was m
ade to test the effect that genetic variations have on total and ioniz
able iron contents and how ionizable iron was influenced by processing
methods. Mean total iron content was the highest in soybean, followed
by chickpea, urd bean, mung bean and pigeon pea. Mean values for avai
lable iron were the highest in chickpea and the lowest in urd bean. Ge
rmination and fermentation resulted in significant increases (P < 0.01
) in the available iron of chickpea, urd bean, and soybean. Except for
mung bean, no significant changes in ionizable iron content were obse
rved by either autoclaving or roasting these legumes. The beneficial e
ffect of germination on iron availability in all legumes was found to
be more pronounced than the fermentation process.