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Autolysis of mimosine to 3‐hydroxy‐4‐1(h)pyridone in green tissues of Leucaena leucocephala
Author(s) -
Lowry J. Brian,
Tangendjaja Budi
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
journal of the science of food and agriculture
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 142
eISSN - 1097-0010
pISSN - 0022-5142
DOI - 10.1002/jsfa.2740340602
Subject(s) - mimosine , leucaena leucocephala , autolysis (biology) , biology , leucaena , botany , enzyme , biochemistry
Enzymes present in Leucaena leucocephala can rapidly degrade mimosine to 3‐hydroxy‐4‐1(H)pyridone (DHP). At 45°C, half of the mimosine in macerated leaves is degraded in 4 min. This activity is confined to leaflets and lamina of the young pod, although mimosine also occurs in other tissues. Simple processing can give a leaf meal largely free from minosine, or can break down most of the mimosine in pods used as human food; the problem then becomes that of the toxicity of DHP. Leaf autolysis can be utilised to prepare DHP.