Presence of antinutritional factors in legumes

Abstract

Legumes are one of the main sources of vegetable protein, and it has also been shown that, after consumption, beneficial effects can be obtained for human health, since they can help reduce blood glucose levels, as they are considered a low glycemic index food, promote bone health, and contain bioactive compounds with different biological activities such as hypotensive or hypocholesterolemic, among others. This group of foods are considered complete foods since they contain proteins, carbohydrates, minerals, vitamins, among other nutritional components; however, they also have antinutritional factors (ANF), which are defined as non-fibrous natural substances that can cause a negative effect on the nutritional value of some foods, as well as on health since they hinder or inhibit the assimilation of some nutrients. For this reason, it is of great importance to apply processing methods to reduce or eliminate the presence of these ANF in legumes.