EFFECT OF SOAKING IN SODIUM BICARBONATE SOLUTION FOLLOWED BY AUTOCLAVING ON THE NUTRITIONAL AND ANTINUTRITIONAL PROPERTIES OF VELVET BEAN SEEDS

In the present study, the effect of soaking in sodium bicarbonate solution + autoclaving treatment on the levels of nutritional and antinutritional constituents of seeds of a South Indian underutilized food legume, velvet bean (VB) (Mucuna pruriens [L.] DC. var. utilis [Wall. ex Wight] Baker ex Burck) was investigated. This treatment was found to cause a significant reduction on the levels of various antinutritional compounds such as total free phenolics (82-83%), tannins (74-84%), L-Dopa (83-85%), phytic acid (75-78%), oligosaccharides such as raffinose (76-82%), stachyose (77%) and verbascose (75-76%), hemagglutinating activity (71-75%), trypsin inhibitor activity (81-82%), and alpha-amylase inhibitor activity (82-84%) of both white and black accessions of VB seeds without affecting their nutritional quality. It also resulted in significant improvement on the in vitro protein digestibility (18.7-20.1%) of VB seeds. Adoption of such viable processing method will enhance the utilization of VB seeds as an alternative/additional protein source for both human beings and animals.