EFFECT OF GERMINATION PERIOD ON THE NUTRIENT AND ANTINUTRIENT CONTENTS OF FLOURS FROM RED AND BROWN VARIETIES OF PIGEON PEA (CAJANUS CAJAN) SEEDS

This study was carried out to evaluate the effect of germination period on the nutrient and anti-nutrient contents of red and brown pigeon pea flours. The red and brown pigeon pea seeds were cleaned, steeped for 6, 8 and 10 h and germinated for 48 h, 72 h and 96 h, respectively and processed into flours, while the flours produced from the ungerminated red and brown pigeon pea seeds were used as control samples. The flours obtained were analyzed for proximate, mineral, vitamin and anti-nutrient contents using standard methods. The proximate composition of the samples showed that the flours produced from the red pigeon pea seeds had a range of 6.24 – 9.34% moisture, 10.37 – 20.95% crude protein, 1.21 – 1.12% fat, 2.32 – 3.32% ash, 3.14 – 4.23% crude fibre, 76.75-61.07% carbohydrate, and 329.29 – 338.10KJ/100g energy, whereas that of the brown pigeon pea flours had a range of 6.44-9.77% moisture, 10.47-23.69% crude protein, 1.23-1.13% fat, 2.42-3.13% ash, 3.18-4.31% crude fibre, 76.26-57.99% carbohydrate and 358.18-336.83KJ/100g energy respectively. The mineral composition of the flours produced from the red pigeon pea seeds had a range of 103.85-118.76 mg/100g calcium, 213.10-236.75mg/100g potassium, 140.30-165.40mg/100g phosphorus, 114.04-132.79mg/100g magnesium, 7.97-10.94 mg/100g sodium, and 5.08-6.49 mg/100g zinc, while that of the brown pigeon pea flours were 107.95-121.22 mg/100g calcium, 2.57-293.21 mg/100g potassium, 140.30-199.08mg/100g phosphorus, 118.12-152.67 mg/100g magnesium, 8.33-11.64 mg/100g sodium and 5.19-7.99 mg/100g zinc respectively. The vitamin composition of the red pigeon pea flours showed that the ascorbic acid, thiamine, niacin, riboflavin, folic acid and vitamin A ranged from 3.53-4.63mg/100g, 1.17-1.46 mg/100g, 2.16-3.20 mg/100g, 1.02-1.36 mg/100g, 1.08-1.28 mg/100g and 2.13-2.57 mg/100g, whereas that of the brown pigeon pea flours ranged from 3.97-4.96 mg/100g, 1.36-1.71 mg/100g, 2.46-33 mg/100g, 1.18-1.48 mg/100g, 1.10-1.35 mg/100g and 2.19-2.94 mg/100g, respectively. The anti-nutrient composition of the flours from the red pigeon pea seeds showed that the levels of trypsin inhibitor, tannin, phytate, oxalate, saponin and haemaglutinin were 7.66-1.03 Tiu/g, 1.34-0.78 mg/kg, 4.78-1.15 mg/kg, 3.03-0.45 mg/kg, 2.78-1.21 mg/kg and 7.44-0.30Hui/g, whereas that of the brown pigeon pea flour ranged from 6.33-1.15Tiu/100g, 1.14-0.41mg/kg, 3.98-0.26mg/kg, 2.99-0.17mg/kg, 2.60-1.11 mg/kg and 6.23-0.33 Hui/g, respectively. The result generally showed that the nutrient contents of both the red and brown pigeon pea flours increased significantly (p˂0.05) with increase in steeping and germination time, while their antinutrient contents decreased drastically compared to the raw (control) samples in both varieties of pigeon pea flours. However, the brown pigeon pea flours relatively had high nutrient contents than the red pigeon pea flours, hence, they could be widely utilized in the preparation of a variety of good quality and nutrient-dense food products than the flours derived from red pigeon pea seeds

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