Proximate, Amino Acid, Anti-Nutritional Factor And Mineral Composition Of Different Varieties Of Raw Lablab Purpureus Seeds

Proximate chemical, amino acid, antinutritional factors (ANF) and mineral composition of Highworth, Rongai White and Rongai Brown varieties of Lablab purpureus seed were determined. Lablab purpureus seed irrespective of the variety was lower in crude protein but higher in crude fibre than FFSB. The three varieties of lablab seed analyzed in the present study contained between 7.22-9.23% of crude fibre while the crude protein content ranged between 24.88-34.33g/100g. The ether extract (EE) content (2.99-5.87%) of lablab seed is low compare to other legume seeds such as soyabeans and groundnuts. Due to this low oil content, lablab seed may not be suitable as a commercial source of oil, reducing the competition for lablab seed from vegetable oil industries. The natural limiting amino acid lysine in cereals is satisfactorily high (mean value is above FAO reference pattern) in lablab seed. The mean values of the essential amino acids (lysine, histidine, valine, methionine, isoleucine, leucine and phenylalanine) in lablab seed are higher than the values reported for FFSB. This suggests that lablab seed can be exploited in feed formulation as an excellent source of amino acid. The aniti-nutritional factors identified in lablab seed are trypsin inhibitors, hydrogen cyanide, phytate, tannin, oxalates, alkaloids, saponin and haemagglutinins which must be deactivated to improve seed utilization. Lablab seed contained 0.3-5.3g/100g of major and 14.9-54.5mg/kg of minor minerals assayed, and this is also low compared to soyabean and groundnut.