Composition of underexploited Indian pulses. Comparison with common legumes Laura Bravo*, Perumal Siddhuraju, Fulgencio Saura-Calixto Instituto del FrõÂo (CSIC), Departamento de Metabolismo y Nutricio Ân, Ciudad Universitaria, 28040 Madrid, Spain Received 21 April 1998; received in revised form and accepted 8 June 1998 Abstract There is increasing interest in ®nding new food sources to alleviate malnutrition in developing countries. Moth beans and horse gram are two underexploited Indian legumes growing in adverse conditions but their composition is little-known. Total and resis- tant starch (RS), dietary ®bre (DF) and soluble sugars including oligosaccharides were determined, along with protein, fat, ash and polyphenols. They were compared with other legumes common in Asian and Western countries: black gram, green gram, haricot beans and chickpeas. No apparent dierences among the proximate compositions were observed. All samples were rich in DF (18± 31% d.m.), made mainly of insoluble DF, whilst RS varied between 3.4 and 8.3%. Oligosaccharides were the main soluble sugars in all legumes; haricot beans and chickpeas were rich in sucrose. All legumes had a high content of non-digestible carbohydrates (37± 48% of carbohydrates). In summary, from the composition study, moth beans and horse gram are of a good nutritional quality, making them suitable for more extensive uses. # 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Legumes; Proximate composition; Resistant starch; Dietary ®bre; Oligosaccharides 1. Introduction The nutritional value of legumes as sources of protein and carbohydrates in the diet is undeniable, not only for vegetarians but more especially in developing countries where large segments of the population suer from protein malnutrition and where legumes are of utmost importance. As a consequence of this, there is an increasing need to identify and evaluate new potential food sources. Research eorts are being directed towards the study of underexploited legumes that are well adapted to adverse environmental conditions and highly resistant to disease and pests. Among these little-used legumes, a wide variety of tribal pulses consumed in dierent regions of Asia and Africa has been studied (Siddhuraju, Vijayakumari, & Janardhanan, 1992, 1995, 1996; Marconi, Ruggeri, & Carnovale, 1997). Most literature studies of little-known food legumes are focused on their protein fractions and, in some cases, on the pre- sence of antinutritional factors such as enzyme inhibi- tors, phytic acid, oligosaccharides, hemagglutinins and phenols as well as on the eect of processing on protein digestibility and antinutrients (Boharde, Kadam, & Salunkhe, 1984; Carnovale, Lugaro, & Marconi, 1991; Sudha, Begum, Shambulingappa, & Babu, 1995; Vijayakumari, Siddhuraju, & Janardhanan, 1995, 1996). In general, these legumes proved to be a good source of protein (15±30% dry matter), matching the FAO/WHO reference patterns (FAO, 1990), except for sulpho- amino acids as limiting ones. Although carbohydrates are the major component of legumes, constituting from 50±70% of the dry matter, little work has been carried out on this fraction. Most reports on the carbohydrate content of underexploited legumes refer to the nitrogen-free extract, with no spe- ci®c information on the dierent digestible and non- digestible carbohydrates. Distinction among these two fractions is important, however, when attempting to alleviate the nutritional problems of developing coun- tries, since the nutritional value of carbohydrates is related to their digestibility in the human small intestine. Starch, which has until recently been considered as a totally available carbohydrate, is now known to be only partly digestible. A starch fraction, called resistant starch (RS), is not digested or absorbed in the small intestine (Asp, Van Amelsvoort, & Hautvast, 1996). Food Chemistry 64 (1999) 185±192 0308-8146/98/$Ðsee front matter # 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. PII: S0308-8146(98)00140-X * Corresponding author. Tel.: +34-91-544-5607; Fax: +34-91-549- 3627; E-mail: lbravo@if.csic.es