~~ Raw, cooked, or autoclaved tepary flour (TF) and protein extract (PE) were tested for their nutritive value using mice and analyzed for their trypsin inhibitor activity (TIA), hemagglutinating activity (HA), and phytic acid (PA). Both raw and 20-min-autoclaved TF or PE, when included in the diets, were deadly to mice. Raw TF and PE had high TIA, HA, and PA contents. Soaking and cooking tepary beans for 20 min improved PER (0.97) and protein digestibility (83.54% ). Autoclaving samples for 40 min showed lower digestibility (41459% ) but weight gain and PER not significantly different ( P < 0.05) from those of cooked beans. Sixty-minute autoclaving caused a significant depressing effect on feed intake, weight gain, and PER. TIA and HA seemed not to be the only toxic factors in tepary beans. Processing caused no significant change in PA. Soaking and cooking tepary seeds appeared to be more efficient in eliminating toxicity and leading to better growth performance than autoclaving.
INTRODUCTIONLegumes are an important source of protein, carbohydrates, minerals, and dietary fiber consumed worldwide.