The study was conducted to determine the nutiritional value of Gram (Cicer
arietinum) in raw and cooked forms. Supplement value of various types of me
at i.e. poultry, mutton and beef at 10, 15, and 20 percent levels for dites
containing cooked Gram was also assessed. Nutritional value of Gram was de
termined by chemical analysis as well as through rat assay. Gram contained
an average of 23.01 percent protein and less then two percent fibre. Minor
changes were noticed in the proximate composition of Gram after cooking. Co
nventional method of cooking resulted in a loss amounting to more then one
percent in Gram protein. Gram had good amount of lysine (1.31 percent) but
cooking destroyed 28 percent of it. Other amino acids in Gram also showed l
osses on cooking. Protein efficiency ratio (PER) of diets containing raw Gr
am was 1.46, which was drastically reduced to 0.79 by cooking. Cooking of G
ram significantly improved true digestibility (TD) percentage from 64.57 in
raw to 77.87 percent in cooked. However, net protein utilization (NPU) was
improved from 36.69 in raw to 38.44 in cooked. Diets containing cooked Gra
m and supplemented with different types of meat significantly improved PER
(1.02 to 1.45), TD 78.13 to 86.58 percent and NPU 38.61 to 44.40 percent ov
er non supplemented diets. 20 percent level of supplemented meat showed com
paratively better results than other levels in case of PER, TD and NPU. (C)
2000 Elsevier Science Inc.