Proteins of Phaseolus angularis, Phaseolus calcaratus and Dolichos lab
lab seeds (24.9 to 26.5% dry weight) were mainly contributed by their
cotyledons which had a proportion of 82.9 to 90.8% by weight of the wh
ole seeds. The levels of all the essential amino acids of the legume s
eeds (415 to 443 mg g(-1) protein) were above the FAO/WHO requirement
with the essential amino acid scores of the methionine and cystine bei
ng 1.02 to 1.19. Appreciable amounts of oligosaccharides of the raffin
ose family were found mainly in the cotyledons (3.52 to 4.72% dry weig
ht). The total dietary fibre of the legume seeds (13.5 to 19.3% dry we
ight) consisted predominantly of insoluble dietary fibre (IDF). The co
tyledons contained 45.9 to 51.4% dry weight of starch but had low cont
ents of cellulose and lignin. Hulls were highly lignified and consiste
d predominantly of IDF, with values ranging from 70.7 to 74.0% dry wei
ght. The principal sugar residue analysis revealed that pectins were t
he major polysaccharide present in the SDF of both the cotyledons and
the hulls. While xylans and cellulose were the major polysaccharides p
resent in the IDF of the hulls, xyloglucans and arabinose-rich pectic
substances were the principal non-starch polysaccharides in the IDF of
the cotyledons. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.