Premium
The Nutritive Value of Eight Varieties of Cowpea (Vigna sinensis) a, b
Author(s) -
ELIAS LUIZ G.,
COLINDRES ROBERTO,
BRESSANI RICARDO
Publication year - 1964
Publication title -
journal of food science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 150
eISSN - 1750-3841
pISSN - 0022-1147
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2621.1964.tb01705.x
Subject(s) - vigna , food science , biological value , thiamine , chemistry , niacin , riboflavin , tryptophan , composition (language) , essential amino acid , amino acid , protein quality , chemical composition , nitrogen , biology , agronomy , biochemistry , organic chemistry , linguistics , philosophy
SUMMARY Samples of eight varieties of cowpea, both raw and cooked, were analyzed for their chemical composition and amino acid content by microbiological methods and were also subjected to biological trials with rats in order to determine their nutritive value. Cooking caused losses as follows: 9.2% nitrogen, 17.4% crude fiber, 6270 thiamine, 52% riboflavin, and 45% niacin. With the possible exception of tryptophan, the variation for amino acids was small among all the samples, both cooked and raw, and there was no difference in ether extract and ash. The animal experiments showed marked differences in protein value among the eight samples, even though essential amino acid composition indicated only slight differences. These differences are probably due to variation in amino acid availability. The protein efficiency ratio was higher in the cowpea samples than in the beans. Since cowpeas have a higher nutritive value than common beans, as confirmed in this study, and can be grown under many environmental conditions with higher yields, their use in human feeding should be recommended in developing areas of the world having protein in low quantity and quality.