Dietary fiber profile of food legumes

Khalil, I.A.; Iqbal, A.; Saleemullah . Dept. of Agricultural Chemistry

Dietary fiber profile of food legumes

2001

Khalil, I.A. | Iqbal, A. | Saleemullah (NWFP Agricultural Univ., Peshawar (Pakistan). Dept. of Agricultural Chemistry)

Dietary fiber component of seven grain legumes (chickpea, cowpea, lentil, faba bean, guar, green pea and pigeon pea) determined in order to evaluate their protective role in human diet and health. The dietary fiber content of these legumes varied significantly (P less than 0.05). It was observed that total dietary fiber content ranged from 11.5% in lentil to 33.2% in guar on dry matter basis. Among these legumes guar was found richer in water soluble and insoluble dietary fiber. All the legumes contained higher proportion of insoluble fiber than soluble fiber. The ratio of insoluble dietary fiber to soluble dietary fiber was high in both cowpea and lentil due to their high cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin content. Guar and chickpea contained maximum amount of pectin and some hemicelluloses and were the richest source of soluble fiber. It was concluded that legumes are rich sources of soluble dietary fiber, which have laxative action, hypoglycemic and hypocholestrimic effects. Hence legume diets are recommended for diabetic and heart patients.

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