39D-5

I. Majumder, Departamento de Alimentos e Nutrição Experimental, Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas, Universidade de São Paulo, Av. Prof. Lineu Prestes, 580, São Paulo, 05508-900, Brazil and U. M. LANFER-MARQUEZ.

Common beans, (Phaseolus vulgaris, L) are the most consumed legumes in Brazil; in other countries, beyond these, other species, belonging to the genera Vigna are very appreciated. India, the world’s largest producer of Vigna mungo, destines 12% of its cultivating area to the production of these grains. There exists a trend of increasing the production of Vigna and expansion for other countries, being its agronomical and technological potential still underexploited. In Brazil, these seeds could be cultivated in tropical areas with pluviometric index of 600-900 mm. Although its long history in Asian agriculture, the seeds of Vigna mungo (black gram) and Vigna radiata (green gram) have been little studied.

Our objective was to evaluate the composition and amino acid contents of Vigna mungo and Vigna radiata seeds as well as the content of a sulfur containing dipeptide: gamma-glutamyl-L-methionine.

The analyses had been carried out trough official methods (AOAC, 1995); dietary soluble and insoluble fiber (DF) was determined by an enzymatic-gravimetric method and amino acids and the peptide were quantified by automated IEC.

Black and green gram seeds have similar protein, ash and lipid contents, coming close to results reported elsewhere, while DF levels are significantly higher (19.60 and 13.57g/100g resp.) than data reported previously in the literature (4.12g/100g) due to inadequate methodology used, unable to determine certain fiber components. The DF contents show a positive correlation with cooking time: 87 and 67 min for black and green gram, respectively, that were necessary to render the seeds soft. The amino acid profile is similar except methionine contents: 2.68 and 1.87 % in protein from black gram and green gram respectively, attending the recommendations of the FAO/WHO. The presence of gamma-glutamyl-L-methionine was identified in Vigna mungo seeds only and it is responsible for at least 20% of total methionine found.