EFFECT OF PROCESSING ON THE NUTRIENTS AND ANTINUTRIENTS OF SOME SELECTED LEGUMES

📄 Project Abstract

Legumes are staple foods for many people in different parts of the world (Ndidi et al., 2014). The seeds have twice as much protein as cereals by percentage and usually contain more balanced profile of essential amino acids (Vijayakumri et al., 1997). They are a good and inexpensive source of dietary proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals. The prevalence of malnutrition has increased in some developing countries, likely because of the increase in population and inadequate supply of protein (Adebowale, 2007). This is mainly due to the consumption of cereal-based porridge which is bulky, with low energy, low nutrient density and high antinutrient content (Michaelsen and Henrik, 1998). However, legumes can play an important role in tackling the problem of malnutrition due to their high content of proteins, which ranges from 20-40% (Buadoin and Maquet, 1999). Plants provide 70% of the world supply of protein (Nergiz and Gokgoz, 2007) and legumes provide a significant amount of thi...