Nutrients, Phytic Acid and Bioactive Compounds in Marketable Pulses

Abstract

Pulses are edible seeds of plants belonging to the legume family, which are of great importance for human and animal nutrition. In this study, several nutrients, antinutrients and bioactive compounds were quantified in the seeds of ten pulses, i.e., common and runner beans, field peas, lupins (white, blue and yellow), faba beans, lentils (brown and red) and chickpeas. Homogenised, air-dried seed samples were analysed for various parameters: protein (18.0–43.1%), fat (0.6–18.5%) and phytic acid content (507–2566 mg/100 g dry weight (DW)), phenolic profile (27 phenolic compounds in total) and multi-mineral composition. The analysed phenolic compounds mainly belong to phenolic acids (hydroxybenzoic acids and hydroxycinnamic acids) and/or flavonoids (flavones, flavonols and flavanols). Total phenolic content (TPC) ranged from 719 μg/g DW in chickpeas to 5012 μg/g DW in common beans. A total of ten elements belonging to macro- (Mg, P, S, K and Ca) and micro-minerals (Cr, Mn, Fe, Zn and Mo) were determined. Using cluster analysis, pulses were divided into three groups according to the parameters studied: 1. common and runner bean; 2. field pea, white and blue lupin, faba bean, red and brown lentil and chickpea; and 3. yellow lupin. The most varying phytochemicals in terms of their content in the analysed pulses were phytic acid, quinic acid, catechin and TPC. A perfect positive significant Pearson correlation (1.00) was observed for six pairs of variables within the group of phenolic compounds.