NUTRIENT AND CHEMICAL EVALUATION OF RAW SEEDS OF XYLIA-XYLOCARPA - ANUNDERUTILIZED FOOD SOURCE

Some nutritional and antinutritional characteristics of Xylia xylocarp a seeds were studied. The mature seeds contained 29.5% crude protein, 14.78% crude fat, 8.02% crude fibre, 5.11% ash and 42.6% crude carbohy drates. The seeds appeared to be a good source of potassium, magnesium , phosphorus and iron. The major components of the total seed proteins were globulins and albumins; the latter constituting 32% of the total extractable proteins. The seed lipids contained a high proportion of unsaturated fatty acids with linoleic acid (51.3%) as the predominant fatty acid. The total seed proteins were rich in most of the essential amino acids and they were deficient only in cystine and methionine. T he albumins contained higher levels of isoleucine, cystine, methionine , tryptophan and threonine and lower levels of leucine, lysine, phenyl alanine, tyrosine and valine compared to the globulins. Antinutritiona l substances such as total free phenols, tannins, phytic acid, hydroge n cyanide, trypsin inhibitor and phytohaemagglutinating activities wer e also analysed besides in-vitro protein digestibility.