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The chemical composition and nutritional characteristics of seeds of Mucuna pruriens were investigated. The mature seeds contained 314.4 g/kg crude protein, 51.6 g/kg crude fiber, 67.3 g/kg crude fat, 41.1 g/kg ash, and 525.6 g/kg carbohydrates. Potassium, phosphorus, and calcium registered higher concentrations compared with the most commonly consumed pulses. The globulins and albumins together constituted the major storage proteins (22.7 g/100 g of seed flour). The essential amino acids profile of total seed proteins compared favorably with the FAO/WHO reference pattern except for deficiency of sulfo amino acids. When compared with globulins, albumins appeared to be a rich source of valine and tryptophan. However, cystine, methionine, and leucine were deficient in both the protein fractions. Both oleic and linoleic acids constituted the predominant fatty acids (65.5%) along with a substantial quantity of palmitic acid (20.16%). Dry heating as well as autoclaving significantly reduced the antinutritional factors. Protein effeciency ratio, true protein digestibility, biological value, net protein utilization, and utilizable protein were significantly improved by autoclaving as compared with dry heating. However, the values of true protein digestibility and net protein utilization of dry-heated samples were significantly higher than the raw samples. Keywords: Mucuna pruriens; chemical composition; amino acids; fatty acids; antrinutritional factors; heat treatments; biological evaluation

The pretreatment of two black pepper varieties, Panniyur 1 (drought-sensitive) and Panniyur 5 (droughttolerant) with GABA (2 mM) influenced various physiological and biochemical parameters positively and the PEG (poly ethylene glycol 6000; 10 % w/v)-induced stress tolerance was increased in both varieties of black pepper. Although both varieties primed with GABA showed positive responses while encountering PEG-stress, Panniyur 5 showed better performance. When compared to nonprimed plants induced with PEG-stress, GABA primed black pepper plants showed enhanced rate of leaf RWC and also a faster reduction of cell osmotic potential. Proline and total sugars were found to accumulate earlier in primed plants and the activity of antioxidant enzymes like guaiacol peroxidase and superoxide dismutase also increased significantly, in response to PEG-stress. When compared to non-primed plants, GABA priming resulted in a reduced rate of lipid peroxidation, and comparatively lesser inhibition of photosynthetic and mitochondrial activity (measured in terms of O 2 evolution/uptake) in primed plants during osmotic stress. Occurrence of GABA in plants of black pepper varieties was detected by HPTLC technique. In PEG-treated plants GABA content was higher than that of control; and a multifold enhancement of GABA was observed in black pepper plants subjected to PEG-stress, after priming with GABA.aminobutyric acid PEG Poly ethylene glycol RWC Relative water content MDA Malondialdehyde GPX Guaiacol peroxidase SOD Superoxide dismutase ROS Reactive oxygen species PS I Photosystem I PS II Photosystem II HPTLC High performance thin layer chromatography OP Osmotic potential Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (

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