760 16 Legumes
Table 16.21.Carbohydrates in legume floursa
Flour Glucose Saccharose Raffinose Stachyose Verbascose Starch
Garden beans 0. 04 2. 23 0. 41 2. 59 0. 13 51. 6
Broad beans 0. 34 1. 55 0. 24 0. 80 1. 94 52. 7
Lentils 0. 07 1. 81 0. 39 1. 85 1. 20 52. 3
Green gram
(mungo
beans) 0. 05 1. 28 0. 32 1. 65 2. 77 52. 0
Soybeanb 0. 01 4. 51. 13. 70. 62
aWeight-% of the dry matter.
bDefatted flour.
oligo- into monosaccharides and cause their
further degradation to CO 2 ,CH 4 and H 2. Model
feeding tests have demonstrated that phenolic
ingredients, such as ferulic and syringic acids,
inhibit microorganism metabolism and the
related flatulency.
16.2.6 Cyanogenic Glycosides
Cyanogenic glycosides (Table 16.22) are present
in lima beans and in some other plant foods. Pre-
cursors of cyanogenic glycosides are the amino
acids listed in Table 16.22. As in the biosynthe-
sis of glucosinolates (cf. 17.1.2.6.5), an aldoxime
is initially formed, which is then transformed into
Table 16.22.Cyanogenic glycosides in fruit and some field crops
Glycoside Structure Sugar Amino acid Occurrence
Name precursor (seeds)
R 1 R 2
Linamarin CH 3 CH 3 Glucose Val Lima bean
Linseed (flax)
Cassava
(R)-Lotaustralin C 2 H 5 CH 3 Glucose Ile like Linamarin
(R)-Prunasin Phenyl H Glucose Phe Prunes
(R)-Amygdalin Phenyl H Gentiobiose Phe Bitter almond
Apricots
Peaches
Apples
(S)-Dhurrin HO–Phenyl H Glucose Tyr Sorghum sp.
a cyanogenic glycoside by means of the postu-
lated reaction pathway shown in Fig. 16.3.
Seeds are ground and moistened in order to
detoxify them. This initiates glycoside degrada-
tion with formation of HCN (cf. Table 16.23)
which, after incubation, is expelled by heating.
The cyanogenic glycoside degradation is initiated
byβ-glucosidase (Fig. 16.4) which in the cells is
separated from its substrate. Once the cell struc-
ture is ruptured by seed grinding, the enzyme and
the substrate are brought together and the reaction
starts.
The substrate specificity ofβ-glucosidase is gov-
erned by an aglycon moiety. Thus, the enzymes
present in “emulsin”, a glycosidase mixture from
bitter almonds, hydrolyze not only amygdalin but
also other cyanogenic glycosides which are de-