Amino acid composition of six varieties of dehulled African yam bean (Sphenostylis stenocarpa) flour

Abstract

The proximate and amino acids of dehulled African yam bean (Sphenostylis stenocarpa) flour were analysed. The proximate composition showed that both protein and carbohydrate were highly concentrated with values ranging from 20.18 ± 0.02 to 25.78 ± 0.05 g/100 g and 58.46 ± 0.04 to 63.34 ± 0.05 g/100 g respectively while the crude fat, total ash and moisture contents were low. Amino acid analysis showed that the protein contained nutritionally useful quantities of most of the essential amino acids including sulphur-containing amino acids. The total essential amino acids amounted to an average of 53.75% (with histidine) while the TEAA without histidine amounted to 49.64% on average. Both the total amino acids and the total essential amino acids showed no significant difference among the six varieties analysed. However, significant difference occurred among the essential amino acid scores at P < 0.05. The limiting amino acids were also found to be a function of the African yam bean varieties. All determinations were in triplicate.