Cereal Chem 61:311 - 315.  |  VIEW ARTICLE
Effect of Age of Sample and of Amino Acid Supplementation on the Tetrahymena-Relative Nutritive Value of Lentils, Green and Yellow Split Peas, and Their Processed Forms.

K. R. Davis, M. J. Costello, V. Mattern, and C. Schroeder. Copyright 1984 by the American Association of Cereal Chemists, Inc. 

In this study, the protein quality of lentils, green and yellow split peas, and their processed forms was evaluated using Tetrahymena pyriformis w. The samples, which had been stored in the laboratory for two years, were tested with no treatment, with fat extracted by ether, and with the addition of the amino acids methionine (M), cystine (C), M + C, and M + C lysine (L). In this study, the effects of storage, defatting, and amino acid supplementation were evaluated. The amino acid supplements permitted testing of the hypothesis that the tannins of the lentil seed coat depress growth of the organism by binding the amino acids M, C, and L. Significant changes in T-RNV were associated with storage, fat extraction, and amino acid supplementation. Storage was associated with a decrease in T-RNV of all lentil products, and with all green pea products except the pea flour. Storage was associated with an increase in the T-RNV of all yellow pea products except the precooked powder. Defatting increased the T-RNV of green pea precooked powder and protein concentrate. Defatting had only a slight effect on other pea products. Addition of the amino acids improved the T-RNV of all products, with the effects ranked in order of decreasing severity, CM, M, CML, C, none. Because the addition of lysine had such a small effect, and because the change in T-RNV was not greater in the high-tannin lentil products, the growth depression of tannins is not due to a simple binding of M, C, or L, but tanning must inhibit digestion by binding enzyme, substrate or cofactor, have a direct toxic effect on the organism, or inhibit absorption of amino acids.