EFFECTS OF SHORT-TERM FEEDING OF RATS WITH A HIGHLY PURIFIED PHASEOLIN PREPARATION

Rats fed a diet containing a highly purified preparation of phaseolin, the main globulin from the seeds of Phaseolus vulgaris, rapidly lost weight. Fecal nitrogen outputs were elevated and the N digestibility, based on conventional method estimation, was only 37.5%. By using immu nological techniques, however, it was shown that the bulk of the nitro gen recovered in the feces was not chemically related to phaseolin. Af ter correction for this non-phaseolin N, the true digestibility of pha seolin was estimated to be 74.3%. It is suggested that phaseolin and/o r undigested fragments derived from the native molecule may, as report ed for the lectins, stimulate the secretion of endogenous N, possibly mucins.