Preliminary studies on the nutrient composition of Cassia sericea Sw.—An unexploited legume seed

Abstract

The nutritional composition and antinutritional factors in Cassia sericea seeds were determined. The seeds contained 3.4% ash, 4.5% ether extractives, 13.8% fiber, 19.5% crude protein, and 50.2% carbohydrate. The major amino acids were lysine, glutamic and aspartic acids, and arginine. The sulfur amino acids and also tryptophan, threonine, and leucine were limiting. The contents of phenolics and tannins were 3% and 1.2%, respectively. Trypsin and chymotrypsin inhibitory activities were fairly high. Phytate and lectins were not detected. The in vitro protein digestibility was quite high (85.3%) despite the presence of tannins and proteinase inhibitory activity. The major protein fraction of C. sericea seeds was glutelin, which is noteworthy, as most legumes are known to contain globulins as the major storage protein.