Effect of Germination and Cooking on the Nutrient and Poly-Phenol Content of Lima Bean (Phaseolus lunatus)

Abstract

The present study focused on the effect of germination and cooking on the nutritive properties of lima bean seed. Lima beans cultivars were cooked at 1hr 30mins and germinated at 35^oC for 5 days. Dried pulverized samples of raw, cooked and germinated samples were analyzed for proximate composition, mineral content and polyphenol activity respectively. The results show germination has improve the protein content from 18.80 to 27.10 %. Mineral composition, increases with germination for calcium, potassium, phosphorus, iron, zinc and magnesium. The heavy metals reduce on germination for lead, cadmium, arsenic, nickel and selenium. The phenol content increases on germination for total flavonoids, phenol content and total antioxidant assay activity. Thus, the study indicated that germination has improved the nutritional composition of lima beans than cooking of the beans flour. Germinated lima bean flour can be successfully used in food formulation.

Keywords: Germination; cooking; lima bean; Polyphenol content.