Abstract
Uncooked and cooked germinated seeds and germinated ripened beans of the mangrove wild legume Canavalia cathartica of Southwest coast of India were evaluated based on hot-extraction (Soxhlet) and cold-extraction (chloroformmethanol- water) methods to evaluate total lipids and fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs). Cooked germinated seeds and ripened beans consist of more quantity of total lipids compared to uncooked germinated seeds and ripened beans. The quantity of palmitic, arachidic, palmitoleic and oleic acids surpassed the quantity in soybean, whereas the palmitic, oleic and linolenic acids in cold-extraction were comparable or higher than the wheat. Cooked germinated seeds and ripened beans on cold-extraction showed moderate to high quantity of unsaturated fatty acids such as oleic acid, linoleic acid and linolenic acid with desired ratios of TUFA/TSFA, C14:0 + C15:0 + (C16:0÷C18:0) and ω-6/ω-3. Overall, cooked germinated ripened beans are superior in FAMEs and thus nutritionally and nutraceutically beneficial.
Keywords: Canavalia cathartica, fatty acids, germination, mangroves, ripened beans, seeds, wild legumes.
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