Evaluation of nutritional value and protein quality of an under-utilized tribal food legume

The effect of various common processing methods on the nutritional value, antinutritional compounds, biological value and protein quality of dehulled seeds of an under-utilized tribal food legume, Tamarindus indica L. was investigated. The Dehulled Tamarind Seeds (DTS) were found to contain 23.19% of protein, 8.8% of lipid, 7.2% of fiber, 4.6% of ash and 56.1% of carbohydrates. Although, various antinutritional compounds were present in the DTS, the autoclaving treatment was found to effectively reduce their maximum levels without affecting the nutritional value of DTS. When considering the biological value, the rats fed with diet containing autoclaved DTS exhibited better growth performance. Moreover, the protein quality of DTS such as True Digestibility, Biological Value, Net Protein Utilization and Utilizable Proteins were also significantly improved by autoclaving treatment when compared to other processing methods such as soaking, cooking and roasting.