Strategies to Improve Protein Quality and Reduce Antinutritional Factors in Mung Bean

Legume seeds contain 20-25% protein, which is 2-3 times higher than the content in cereals, and have therefore been considered as leading candidates for protein supply to malnourished areas of the world. Mung beans are a good source of energy, proteins, vitamins, minerals and dietary fiber. They are relatively inexpensive compared to meat foods and as they have high carbohydrate content. Mung beans can be useful as high energy foods for peasants and nomadic farmers. The high lysine content of mung beans makes them an excellent enhancer of protein quality when combined with cereal grain proteins. However, like other pulses, utilization of mung bean proteins is below the potential partly due to the deficiency of some of the essential amino acids in their proteins and also due to the presence of some antinutritional factors associated with their protein. Protease inhibitors, lectins, gossypol, flatulence-causing factors and others are among the antinutritional factors associated with the legume meal proteins. We report here many investigations carried out in order to reduce or even remove the content of antinutritional factors and enhance the nutritional quality of mung beans. Finally, we discuss the possibilities of mung bean flour to improve and upgrade the nutritional quality of the diets and the health of low-income people in developing countries. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________