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Legumes are widely grown and are consumed as a source of plant protein throughout the world. They rank second after cereals with respect to their consumption order. Legumes have anti‐nutritional factors which make their uses limited. This study aims to check the effect of soaking and cooking on the anti‐nutrient contents and nutritional quality of the legumes.

Five legumes (white kidney bean, red kidney bean, lentil, chickpea, and white gram) frequently used by the masses were selected for soaking and cooking trials. Legumes were tested for their weight, volume, density, swelling capacity and water absorption capacity before soaking and cooking. Legumes were soaked in simple water, 2 per cent sodium chloride solution, acetic acid and sodium bicarbonate and cooked in a beaker with 1 : 5 seed water ratio to uniform soft mass. After soaking and cooking, legumes were tested for anti‐nutrients (phytic acid and tannin) and their nutritional quality.

The statistical analysis of the study results revealed that dark colour legume (red kidney bens) has a high level of phytic acid and tannin compared with light colour (white kidney beans and white grams). Soaking and cooking of legumes result in significant reduction in phytic acid and tannin contents. Maximum reduction of phytic acid (78.055) and tannin (65.81 per cent) was found for sodium bicarbonate soaking followed by cooking. These treatments also result in a slight reduction in nutrients such as protein, minerals and total sugars.

Soaking and cooking of legumes reduce their anti‐nutrients; phytic acid and tannin significantly. These treatments may be used domestically as well as commercially to increase the nutrients' availability from legumes to meet the problem of protein and minerals deficiencies.

Along with water different soaking solutions which are easily available in the market were used to test out their effect on the nutritional quality and safety. These may be used by the common people to raise their nutritional status.

The associations between legume consumption and cardiovascular events (CVEs) have extensively been studied. However, there are few studies that considered longitudinal association between legume consumption (with repeated measurements across time) and CVEs in low-income countries where legume consumption is lower than the Western countries. The authors aimed to investigate the long-term longitudinal relationship between soybean, non-soybean and overall legume consumption and CVEs using repeated measures of legumes and time-varying confounders in a cohort study of the general population.

The current study was performed within the framework of the Isfahan cohort study among 5,432 healthy participants. The participants were followed-up for fatal and non-fatal myocardial infarction, unstable angina, fatal and non-fatal stroke and sudden cardiac death for 13 years. Dietary intake was evaluated using a validated food frequency questionnaire in 2001, 2007 and 2013. The hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for CVEs between categories of soybean, non-soybean and overall legumes intake were examined using marginal Cox's regression analysis.

Long-term consumptions of overall legumes more than three times per week and non-soybean three times or more per week compared with those who had less than once a week were associated with 19.5% (HR = 0.805, 95% CI: 0.650,0.998; p < 0.048) and a 18.5% (HR = 0.815, 95% CI: 0.673, 0.988; p < 0.037) lower risk of CVEs in the general population, respectively. However, our findings revealed no significant reduction in CVEs following a higher intake of soybeans.

In the long run, even modest consumption of legumes, but not soybeans alone, can be effective to reduce CVEs risk in a low-income population. Further studies are warranted to confirm our results in other populations, examine the associations by the type of cardiovascular events and determine any possible threshold effects in this regard.

Legume consumption has decreased in Mexico as part of a global nutrition transition that has shifted the intake of healthy traditional foods to more processed unhealthy foods. This study aims to assess preferences and patterns of legumes consumption, attitudes toward legumes and reasons to consume legumes among adults in Mexico City.

A convenience sample of 86 adult participants living in the Mexico City region completed interviewer–administered surveys.

The participants had an average age of 42.9 years (SD 13.5) and 51.2 per cent were women. Most reported consuming legumes = 1/week (59.5 per cent) and =1/3 cup/meal (52.4 per cent) and using corn tortillas to accompany legumes (83.3 per cent). Participants reported consuming 7 out of 15 types of legumes probed, of which black beans (96 per cent), lentils (79 per cent) and garbanzo beans (64 per cent) were more frequently consumed. Participants had positive (vs negative) perceptions about legumes’ taste (96 per cent), nutritional value (88 per cent), tradition (80 per cent), cost (75 per cent), availability (75 per cent) and health effect (73 per cent), but not for their digestive effect (37 per cent). The main reasons for participants to currently consume legumes were their taste (93 per cent), nutritional value (49 per cent) and affordable cost (48 per cent); whereas main reasons for potentially consuming more legumes were their nutritional value (63 per cent) and health effect (64 per cent).

Legume intake in Mexico is lower than the recommended 1.5-2 servings per day (1 serving = 1/2 cup), despite favorable perceptions and reasons to consume them. The identified characteristics, attitudes and reasons for consuming legumes could inform interventions to increase intake of this traditional food in Mexico.

Studies on attitude and reasons for food consumption are seldom conducted, yet they are valuable in shaping tailored strategies for eating behavior change.

African yam bean (Sphenotylis stenocarpa), bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranean), pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan) and lima bean (Phaseolus luunatus) are some of the minor grain legumes found in Nigeria. Their utilization has been very limiting because little is known about their nutritive value. The proximate, minerals and antinutritional factors of two collections of African yam bean, lima beans and pigeon pea, and one collection of bambara groundnut seeds grown in south‐western Nigeria were studied.

Dry seeds of two collections of African yam bean, pigeon pea and lima beans, and a collection of bambara groundnut were collected from Oyo and Ondo States in south‐western Nigeria. The legumes were sorted, milled and stored in polythene bags at 4°C.

The crude protein in the legumes was in the range of 22–37 per cent, crude fat 1.47–4.96 per cent, crude fibre 1.92–7.21 per cent and ash 3.33–5.61 per cent. K, Ca and P were in the range of 0.15–0.52 per cent. Iron content of the seeds was very low. The antinutrients, tannin, phytic acid and trypsin inhibitor were very high when compared to those of cowpea, groundnut and soybean.

It therefore implies that consumption of these legumes will require processes that will reduce their antinutritional factors.

This article focuses on the selenium (Se) content of 29 legumes and grains available in Mauritius. Selenium was determined using an ultraviolet/visible spectrophotometric method. Results showed that there was considerable variation in the Se content of the legumes and grains that varied from 0.009 ± 0.003μg/g in Dhall Mung (Phaseolus areus) to 1.380 ± 0.003μg/g in Gram Noir (Cicer arietinum). The overall mean Se content of the legumes and grains analysed was 0.231 ± 0.00μg/g. In conclusion, the present study tends to show that legumes and grains are important vehicles of Se intake in the Mauritian diet.

Brush border intestinal disaccharidases (maltase, sucrase and lactase) play an important role in carbohydrate assimilation. These enzymes are located on the brush border and may interact with legume seed components such as dietary fiber and polyphenols. The purpose of this paper is to assess the effect of legume dietary fiber on rat disaccharidase in vitro.

Rat intestinal disaccharidases from Sprague‐Dawley rats fed a basal diet for 21 days were partially purified from intestinal scrapings. Enzyme activities were tested in vitro in the absence and presence of total dietary fiber isolated from Phaseolus vulgaris (Varieties Tacarigua and Montalbán) and Vigna unguiculata (Varieties Unare and Tuy) seeds that differ in fiber and polyphenol content. Dietary fiber was purified using the AOAC method.

The specific activities of the intestinal brush‐border disaccharidases from rats fed the basal diet were 3.29 ± 0.06, 3.13 ± 0.62 and 0.18 ± 0.04 umoles of glucose released/mg of protein/min for maltase, sucrase and lactase, respectively. Total dietary fiber from the legume tested inhibited both sucrase and maltase. Fiber from the four seeds tested affected sucrase similarly (average inhibition 35 per cent) whereas the fiber residue from P. vulgaris Montalbán was more effective on maltase (26.7 per cent) than that from P. vulgaris Tacarigua (12.2 per cent). Effect of V. unguiculata fibers on maltase was similar and somewhat in between those from P. vulgaris.

These results suggest that dietary fiber, as well as other factors from beans with anti‐physiological effect, such as condensed tannins and fitic acid possibly associated with the dietary fiber, may impair carbohydrate availability and may contribute to the low glycemic index proper of these foodstuffs.

Legumes have worldwide improtance Nigel Lambert PhD and Roger Fenwick PhD write about and organisation which has been set up to improve these protain rich foods

Peas and beans are traditional UK crops well suited to the British climate. Compared with cereals, legumes are capable of fixing nitrogen, and hence do not require nitrogen fertiliser. Despite this advantage, the annual UK production of peas and beans is only about 1 million tonnes compared with roughly 13 million and 10 million tonnes of wheat and barley respectively. Thus these eco‐friendly ‘low‐input’ legumes can almost be regarded as ‘alternative crops’. The greater exploitation of peas and beans in Britain has long been debated amongst farmers, seed companies, food manufacturers and politicians alike, but much inertia still exists.

The purpose of the paper is to describe the production of traditional fura and extruded fura blends from 100 per cent pearl millet flour and blends of pearl millet flour with three‐grain legume flour mixtures, i.e. cowpea, soybean, and groundnut at 20 and 30 per cent levels each and to evaluate the influence of extrusion process' on products hydration properties.

Traditional methods of flour preparation were adopted. Extrusion was performed in a single‐screw Brabender Extruder.

The bulk density of traditional fura significantly differed from those of the extrudates (P<0.05). Extrudates exhibited instantization tendency, i.e. ability of easy preparation before eating without the usual rigorous labour involved in the traditional method. Pearl millet: cowpea fura (80:20) had the highest puff ratio of 4.71 while the pearl millet: groundnut (70:30) fura had the least puff ratio, 2.90. Samples with high fat content appear to have lower puff ratio. There were no significant differences in the wettabilities of extruded fura samples (P<0.05) at 28⁰C with the exception of millet: groundnut (70:30) indicating differences (P<0.05) in wettabilities at 50^oC. There were significant differences (P<0.05) in swelling capacities of fura products at each level of water added. The hydration power of extrudates varied significantly (P<0.05) for products both at 28^o and 50^oC; and 100 per cent fura extrudate had the highest hydration power value 63.92 at 28^oC, while traditional fura had the least value, 15.80.

Extrusion cooking revealed good potential opportunities for the manufacture of commercial instant fura and the potential of better storage as a result of low moisture content.

The food and nutrient intake of 250 (135 male, 115 female) adolescent Nigerian high school students have been surveyed to determine the contributions of different food groups to their intakes of protein, calcium and iron. Twenty‐four‐hour dietary recall technique was used to obtain details of food intake and questionnaires administered to obtain social and economic circumstances of subjects’ family. Male subjects had more energy, protein, calcium and iron intake but no significant (p < 0.05) differences when compared with females. Cereal based foods were the most important sources of dietary protein, supplying between 40‐52 per cent for all subjects and 60 per cent or more for 29 per cent of the subjects. Proportions of dietary protein from legumes, meats, vegetables and roots ranged from10‐21 per cent, 3‐13 per cent, 7‐17 per cent, 6.5‐12.9 per cent respectively. Cereals were also the most important source of dietary calcium (56.8 per cent) and iron (33.16 per cent) for most subjects. The contribution of meats and legumes however, approximate that of cereals for 36 per cent of subjects. Apart from gender, residence at home or in boarding house and the socio‐economic status of the subject’s family significantly affect the sources of dietary protein, calcium and iron.