Thursday , 28 March 2024

A Comparative study on the nutritional quality of horse gram and other selected pulses

Kalyani Krishna and Anumol Jose*
Department of Botany, Union Christian College, Aluva, Ernakulam, Kerala, India

A B S T R A C T
Pulses are considered to be the prior source of protein, dietary fibre and energy vital for human health. The rationale of the present study is to analyze the nutrient profile of horse gram, an underutilized pulse, and to compare it with that of the very common pulses- green gram and cowpea. Biochemical attributes (total protein, total carbohydrate, reducing sugar and phenol) and enzymatic assays (amylase and invertase) of selected pulses- cow pea, green gram and horse gram during different soaking periods up to germination is determined. Nutritional properties of pulses are known to be affected by several factors and processes.  Soaking caused significant increase in total protein in all the pulses studied with the highest amount in horse gram. Total carbohydrate content decreased and reducing sugar has increased with germination.SDS PAGE profiling of horse gram showed comparable protein bands with green gram and cowpea and the primary storage protein is found to be albumin in all the three pulses.
Keywords: Total protein, horse gram, soaking, germination, pulses, SDS PAGE.

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