Carbohydrate Composition of Winged Bean (Psophocarpus tetragonolobus)

Abstract

The carbohydrate composition of winged bean has been studied, The seeds contain about 42.2% total carbohydrates of which starch alone accounts for 36.2%. The total monosaccharides constituted 2.7% and were identified as glucose (1.17%) and fructose (1.5%); oligosaccharides amounted to only 0.61% and were identified as sucrose, raffinose, stachyose, and verbascose, on a dry defatted basis. The cold water soluble gum of winged bean contains glucose and xylose as the major sugars together with a small amount of arabinose while hot water soluble gum was found to be a glucantype polymer. Hemicellulose A consisted of glucose, xylose, and arabinose (15.5:9:1) whereas hemicellulose B consisted exclusively of glucose indicating that it is also a glucan-type polymer.

Changes in Sugars, Starch and Trypsin Inhibitor Activity in Winged Bean (Psophocarpus tetragonolobus L.DC) During Seed Development

“…The total sugar content increased up to stage III of maturity followed by a decrease during subsequent maturation of seeds. Our results with respect to sugar and starch contents in matured seeds differ from the results reported by Sajjan and Wankhede (1981), but are close to results reported by Hildebrand et al (1981). The pattern of starch and sugar accumulation and utilization in developing winged bean is similar to that of soybean (Adams et al, 1980).…”

“…It has been suggested that during the early stages of development of winged bean, the seeds contain starch. In contrast, Sajjan and Wankhede (1981) reported 36.5% starch in defatted flour of matured seed. Hildebrand et al (1981) studied sugar and starch contents of 21 cultivars of winged bean and reported a mean value of 3.4% for starch and 7.0% for sugars.…”

Chemistry of pulses

“…Cellulose is the major component of crude fiber in smooth and wrinkled peas, red kidney beans, navy beans, pinto beans, pink beans and black-eye beans, while in other pulses (lupin seeds, lentil, broad beans, red gram, black gram), hemicellulose is the major component of fiber. Several researchers reported that glucose is the major sugar in hemicelluloses of Vicia faba (Pritchard et al, 1973), cowpeas (Longe, 1981), mung beans (Buchala and Franz, 1974), wrinkled peas (Cerning-Beroard and Filiatre, 1976) and winged beans (Sajjan and Wankhede, 1981). Hemicelluloses of horse beans contain essentially xylose, small amounts of arabinose and traces of galactose and rhamnose (Cerning et al, 1975).…”

“…Hemicelluloses of horse beans contain essentially xylose, small amounts of arabinose and traces of galactose and rhamnose (Cerning et al, 1975). Sajjan and Wankhede (1981) hydrolyzed hemicellulose A and B fractions (extracted with alkaline solution and precipitated with acetic acid and ethanol to isolate A and B fractions) of winged beans in order to establish the proportion of hexose to pentose. They found that hemicellulose A consists of glucose, xylose and arabinose in ratios of 15.5:9:1 and hemicellulose B contained glucose and xylose in the proportion 15:1.…”

Quality deterioration of winged bean during storage.

“…A report from the National Academy of Sciences (USA) has called attention to the need for research on this promising legume (1). Identification of major globulins in winged bean seeds has been done, and amino acid compositions of the proteins, fatty acids, and carbohydrates have been studied (2)(3)(4)(5). Our objective in the study presented here is to explore quality changes in winged bean seeds during storage and also to find the most desirable conditions for storage.…”