Lectins in the United States diet: a survey of lectins in commonly consumed foods and a review of the literature

Abstract

Plant lectins or phytohemagglutinins possess potent in vivo biological activities. Some, primarily of the family Leguminosae, have been shown to have deleterious nutritional effects. Little information exists, however, regarding the prevalence of lectins or the specific foods that contain lectins in the United States diet. In the present study the edible parts of 29 of 88 foods tested, including common salad ingredients, fresh fruits, roasted nuts, and processed cereals were found to possess significant lectin-like activity as assessed by hemagglutination and bacterial agglutination assays. Based on this survey and a review of the literature we conclude that dietary exposure to plant lectins is widespread. The spectrum of nutritional consequences of such exposure remains to be determined.

Dairy Propionibacteria: Less Conventional Probiotics to Improve the Human and Animal Health

“…Although their biological relevance as recognition molecules is well-known their physiological role and impact on health is controversial since both beneficial and deleterious effects have been ascribed to different lectins [222,223]. Plant lectins are widespread in the human diet, in food items such as vegetables, fruits, cereals, legumes, etc, so their ingestion could be significant [224]. They are also present in other members of the Leguminosae and Gramineae Families that are used as farm feeds.…”

Effect of common antinutritive factors and fibrous feedstuffs in pig diets on amino acid digestibilities with special emphasis on threonine1,2

“…The aim was to supplement the diets with these ingredients at levels that include ANF at concentrations that are commonly present in practical pig diets. For example, the level of lectins found in typical pig diets containing various feedstuffs (Nachbar and Oppenheim, 1980) is approximately 3.0 g/kg. Relative to other beans and legumes, the lectins in kidney beans have been shown to be the most potent of antinutritional factors in these beans (Pusztai et al, 1982;Bond and Smith, 1989); 15 g of red kidney beans provided 3.0 g of lectins/kg to the diet.…”

“…In particular, the indispensable AA concentrations were matched as closely as possible, accounting for the pro- Kidney beans were used as a source of lectins (Unico Inc., Concord, Ontario, Canada); this inclusion level provided approximately 3.0 g of lectins/kg for the total diet (Nachbar and Oppenheim, 1980;Pusztai et al, 1982). tein contribution and digestibility of the barley and canola meal test ingredients.…”

Plant secondary metabolites (PSMs) of Brassicaceae and their role in plant defense against insect herbivores – A review

“…Further, glucosinolate rich flower tissues are preferred more by P. brassicae and sustain higher growth compared to leaf tissues (Smallegange et al, 2007) indicating the selective role of glucosinolates to elicit feeding in this specialist insect and the adaptation of the insect to use these compounds to its advantage. (Nachbar and Oppenheim, 1980;Komath et al, 2006). Lectins incorporated in artificial diets have been shown to result in reduced performance of several insect species (Janzen et al, 1976;Shukle and Murdock, 1983;Murdock et al, 1990;Powell et al, 1993;Peumans and van Damme, 1995;Rahbé et al, 1995;Sauvion et al, 2004a;Sadasivam and Thayumanavam, 2003).…”