Improvement of protein and amino acid contents in seeds of food legumes. A case study in Phaseolus

Abstract

Food legumes are considered as the major source of dietary proteins among the plant species. Protein and amino acid contents were evaluated in a wide sample of both wild and cultivated genotypes of Phaseolus species, with a view to investigate possibilities of genetic improvement in seed nutritional quality. Results indicate a variation in relation with taxa, biological status within species (such as in P. lunatus), ecological conditions, seed parts (testa, cotyledons and embryonic axis), and major protein groups. However, the sulphur containing amino acids remain a limiting factor, which could be better overcome by mixing food legumes with other plant species such as cereals.

Keywords

• kidney-beans
• phaseolus
• varieties
• protein-content
• amino-acids
• nutritive-value
• leguminosae
• papilionoideae
• plant-products
• proximate-composition
• quality
• taxa
• vegetables