NUTRITIONAL-VALUE AND CONTENT OF ANTINUTRITIONAL COMPOUNDS AND TOXICSIN 10 WILD LEGUMES OF YUCATAN PENINSULA

The chemical and toxicological composition of ten wild legumes collect ed in Yucatan, Mexico was determined. For each species the whole fruit , (seed and pod), were studied as well as the seed and pod separately. A higher protein content was found in the seeds of A. lebbeck and P. saman (37.07 and 37.60% respectively). In the seeds oft, longystilus, C. yucatanensis and P. keyense a high concentration of fat was found, especially in the first with 31.34%. A high quantity of fiber was foun d in the pods. In general, the samples were rich in lysine (especially seeds) and scant in sulfur amino acids and tryptophan. All the sample s showed high concentration of potassium and calcium. Some of them exh ibited significant concentrations of iron. The pods of P. saman and P. keyense showed a high content of lectins. In the seeds of C. yucatane nsis and in the pod of P. keyense high concentrations of trypsin inhib itors were found 60 and 406.7 TUI/mg sample respectively. The presence of saponins, was detected in seven samples, of which the seed of P. k eyense had the highest concentration. Alkaloids were found only in the whole Fruit and pod of P. saman and cyanogenic glucosides were presen t in A. pennatula. In general terms, the whole legume showed better di gestibility than the pods alone.