Lebensm.-Wiss. U.-Technol.

36 (2003) 285293

Effect of soaking and extrusion conditions on antinutrients and

protein digestibility of legume seeds
E.A. Abd El-Hady*, R.A. Habiba
Department of Food Technology, Faculty of Agriculture, Suez Canal University, Ismailia 41522, Egypt
Received 28 August 2001; accepted 21 February 2002

Abstract
The effects of soaking (in water for 16 h) and extrusion conditions including barrel temperature (1401C and 1801C) and feed
moisture (18% and 22%) on antinutrients, total and phytate phosphorus and protein digestibility of whole meal of four kinds of
legumes (peas, chickpeas, faba and kidney beans) were investigated.
The results obtained indicated that the soaking and extrusion signicantly decreased antinutrients such as phytic acid, tannins,
phenols, a-amylase and trypsin inhibitors. Moreover, extrusion processing decreased the percentage of phytic acid phosphorus to
total phosphorus. The in vitro protein digestibility of legume extrudates was also improved. Therefore, extrusion of legumes a priori
soaked in water for 16 h is recommended to improve the nutritive value of these legumes in order to increase its utilization by human
and animal when consumed directly or as an ingredient of certain meals.
r 2003 Swiss Society of Food Science and Technology. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Legumes; Extrusion; Soaking; Antinutrients; Phosphorus; Digestibility

1. Introduction
Legumes are a cheap and valuable potential source of
good-quality protein, and they are consumed in large
quantities in Middle East countries. Legumes such as
faba beans, pea seeds, chickpeas and kidney beans are
consumed widely in Egypt. These legumes are also rich
and inexpensive sources of carbohydrates, dietary bers,
vitamins and some minerals including trace elements
(Gatel & Grosjean, 1990; Morrow, 1991; Bakr, 1996;
Embaby, 2000). The utilization of these legumes is
limited due to the presence of certain antinutritional
factors. Among these are phytates, polyphenols, enzyme
inhibitors (trypsin, chymotrypsin, and a-amylase) and
hemagglutinins (Fernandez, Aranda, Lopez-Jurado,
Garcia-Fuentes, & Urbano, 1997; Alonso, Orue, &
Marzo, 1998). On the other hand, Shahidi (1997)
reported that some antinutrients might exert benecial
health effects at low concentration. Therefore, manipulation of processing conditions may be required to
remove or reduce certain unwanted components. Attempts to increase the utilization of legumes have
*Corresponding author.
E-mail address: selhady@hotmail.com (E.A. Abd El-Hady).

employed a wide range of processing techniques such

as soaking, boiling, autoclaving, radiation, cooking,
roasting, dehulling, germination, fermentation, supplementation with various chemicals and enzymes and
recently extrusion cooking (Van der Poel, 1990; Gujska
& Khan, 1991; Bishnoi & Khetarpaul, 1994; Fernandez
et al., 1997; Alonso et al., 1998; Alonso, Aguirre, &
Marzo, 2000a).
Extrusion cooking has advantages including versatility, high productivity, low operating costs, energy
efciency and shorter cooking times. Extrusion cooking
application to legume processing has developed quickly
during the last decade, and can now be considered as a
technology of its own right. Legume extrusion cooking
would allow reduction of antinutritional factors and
therefore improve the nutritional quality at a cost lower
than other heating systems (baking, autoclaving, etc.)
due to a more efcient use of energy and better process
control with greater production capacities (Reimerdes,
1990; Alonso et al., 1998; Quintana, Canovas, Morales,
Morales, & Ramos, 1998; Alonso, Grant, Dewey, &
Marzo, 2000b).
Our objective was to examine the effects of soaking
and extrusion conditions (barrel temperature and feed
moisture content) on antinutrients, ash, phosphorus,

0023-6438/03/$30.00 r 2003 Swiss Society of Food Science and Technology. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/S0023-6438(02)00217-7

286

E.A. Abd El-Hady, R.A. Habiba / Lebensm.-Wiss. U.-Technol. 36 (2003) 285293

protein and protein digestibility of whole meal of four

kinds of legumes which are widely used as a staple food
in Egypt.

2. Materials and methods

2.1. Samples
Faba beans (Vicia faba), pea seeds (Pisum sativum),
chickpeas (Cicer arietinum) and kidney beans (Phaseolus
vulgaris) were purchased from the local market. The
whole legume seeds were divided into two parts. The
rst part was soaked in distilled water (1:5, w/v) at 301C
for 16 h. The soaked seeds were drained and dried at
501C for 24 h. The second part of seeds was left without
soaking. Then, the two parts of seeds were ground
without dehulling to a desirable range of particle size
(200500 mm) for extrusion by using a cylindrical mill.
Before extrusion, the moisture content of whole
legume meals was adjusted to 18% or 22% by adding
the required calculated amount of distilled water. The
quantity of water was added slowly during stirring with
a laboratory mechanical stirrer, then tempered by
leaving in polyethylene bags at room temperature
(E221C) overnight to allow the moisture to equilibrate
before extrusion.
2.2. Extrusion process
A Brabender Laboratory Single-Screw extruder
equipped with feeding device AEV 300, speed control
of the feeding device, temperature regulators for two
extruder zones and die barrel head was used to prepare
the extrudates. The barrel was divided into independent
electrically heated zones (feed and cooking zones)
cooled by air. A third zone, at the die barrel, was also
electrically heated but cooled by water. The extrusion
conditions were: temperature at cooking and die zones
was adjusted together at 1401C or 1801C but feed zone
temperature was adjusted at 1001C for all treatments;
screw speed 250 rpm; screw compression 4:1; feeding
screw speed 160 rpm and round die hole 3 mm. The
resulting extrudates were allowed to reach room
temperature, then sealed in plastic bags and stored at
room temperature until analysis. For each studied
attribute, four replicates (samples) were analysed and
three analyses were carried out for each sample.
2.3. Analytical methods
The A.O.A.C. (1984) methods were followed for the
determination of moisture (method No. 14.004), ash
(method No. 3.004), crude protein (N
6.25; method
No. 2.055-2.062) and tannins (method No. 9.110-9.112)
in the raw, soaked and extruded legumes. Polyphenols

were estimated using the method of Snell and Snell

(1953). Phytic acid and phytate phosphorus were
estimated by the procedure of Wheeler and Ferrel
(1971). Total phosphorus was colorimetrically determined as described (method No. 3.97-3.100) in the
A.O.A.C. (1984). Trypsin inhibitor activity (U/mg) was
assayed according to Kakade, Rackis, McGhee, and
Puski (1974). Alpha amylase inhibitor was extracted in
0.15 mol/L NaCl according to the procedure of Baker,
Woo, Throne, and Finny (1991) and assayed by the
method of Huesing, Shade, Chrispeels, and Murdok
(1991). One amylase inhibitor unit (AIU) was dened as
the amount that gives 50% inhibition of a portion of the
amylase that produced 1 mg maltose monohydrate per
minute.
In vitro protein digestibility (IVPD) was evaluated
using a multienzyme system (trypsin, chymotrypsin and
peptidase) according to the method of Hsu, Vavak,
Saterlee, and Miller (1977). The pH drop after 10 min
incubation period was recorded and the percent protein
digestibility (Y ) was calculated from the equation
Y 210:469  18:10X
where X is the pH change after 10 min.
2.4. Statistical analysis
The data were subjected to analysis of variance
(ANOVA) using general linear model procedure as
mentioned by Ray (1988). Means comparison was
performed using Duncans Multiple Range Test.

3. Results and discussion

3.1. Antinutrients
3.1.1. Phytic acid
Changes in phytic acid in extruded legumes with and
without presoaking are shown in Table 1a and b and
summarized in Table 6. The phytic acid contents in raw
legumes were 6.40, 8.21, 8.97 and 11.03 mg/g of faba
beans, chickpeas, peas and kidney beans, respectively.
Varietal changes have been reported by many workers
(Tabekhia & Luh, 1980; Burbano, Muzquiz, Osagie,
Ayet, & Cuadrado, 1995). Soaking reduced phytic
content in all tested legumes. These data are in
agreement with the nding of Alonso et al. (1998) and
it may be ascribed to the activation of the endogenous
phytase during the long soaking treatment and possible
enzyme action continued during drying step. The high
temperature (1401C or 1801C), short time extrusion
treatment further decreased the phytic content. The
higher temperature (1801C) was signicantly more
effective in reducing phytic acid than the lower one
(1401C) as shown in Table 1b. The same trend was

Raw
18
18
22
22

Raw
18
18
22
22

Feed
moisture (%)

Raw
140
180
140
180

Raw
140
180
140
180

Barrel
temp. (1C)

6.10
5.50
5.28
5.10
4.80

6.40
6.86
6.23
6.26
6.05

8.50
7.60
7.21
7.32
7.14

8.97
8.34
8.08
8.16
7.90

8.00
8.04
7.44
7.74
7.35

8.21
8.16
7.96
7.71
7.33

9.95
10.41
9.77
10.05
9.53

11.03
10.90
10.10
10.30
9.64

Kidney
beans

485
426
387
366
362

492
430
397
438
426

269
233
229
214
200

330
278
255
257
236

Peas

Faba
beans

Chickpeas

Faba
beans

Peas

Tannins (mg/100 g)

Phytic acid (mg/g)

210
196
214
195
210

260
245
226
230
190

Chickpeas

229
190
185
178
171

233
223
206
211
196

Kidney
beans

810
644
559
618
618

850
713
708
750
635

Faba
beans

393
379
350
360
343

460
430
420
402
392

Peas

550
380
270
360
283

590
520
511
490
470

Chickpeas

Total phenols (mg/100 g)

610
494
486
429
413

639
621
612
610
539

Kidney
beans

1401C
7.78 a

Barrel temp.

1801C
7.37 b

22%
7.41 b

Soaked
7.28 b

1401C
269 a

18%
270 a

Unsoaked
278 a

Peas
238 b

Chickpeas
213 c

1801C
256 b

22%
255 b

Soaked
247 b

Kidney
beans
195 d

Means having the same letter within each property are not signicantly different using Duncans Multiple Range Test (Po 0.05).
a
Calculated a part from other effects (i.e. main effect).

18%
7.75 a

Unsoaked
7.87 a

Kidney
beans
10.09 a

Faba
beans
404 a

Chickpeas
7.72 b

Faba
beans
5.86 c

Peas
7.74 b

Tannins (mg/100 g)

Phytic acid (mg/g)

Feed moisture

Soaking treatment

Legume type

Peas
385 d

1401C
513 a

18%
506 a

Unsoaked
552 a

Faba
beans
656 a

Kidney
beans
526 b

1801C
476 b

22%
482 b

Soaked
437 b

Chickpeas
411 c

Total phenols (mg/100 g)

(b) Meansa of phytic acid, tannins and phenols contents as affected by legume type, soaking treatment, feed moisture and barrel temperature tested for significance using Duncans Multiple Range Test

Soaked

Unsoaked

Treatment

(a) Effect of soaking, feed moisture and extrusion temperature on phytic acid, tannins and phenols of extruded legumes

Table 1

E.A. Abd El-Hady, R.A. Habiba / Lebensm.-Wiss. U.-Technol. 36 (2003) 285293

287

288

E.A. Abd El-Hady, R.A. Habiba / Lebensm.-Wiss. U.-Technol. 36 (2003) 285293

noticed by increasing feed moisture from 18% to 22%.

Soaking in acid solution followed by cooking has been
reported to decrease phytic acid content in chickpeas
(Nestares, Barrionuevo, Urbano, & Lopez-Frias, 1999)
and in faba beans (Fernandez et al., 1997). The effects of
the interactions of studied parameters are also shown in
Table 6.

effects of feed moisture and barrel temperature are

shown in Table 1b. The two extrusion parameters
signicantly decreased legume phenols. These data agree
with those of Alonso et al. (2000a) in extruded faba and
kidney beans.

3.1.2. Tannins
Signicant variations were noticed in the contents of
tannins of the studied legumes (Table 1a and b). Raw
faba beans contained the highest value (492 mg/100 g)
while kidney beans showed the least (233 mg/100 g). The
long soaking time (16 h) in water resulted in a highly
signicant reduction in tannins in all legumes (Tables 1b
and 6). Moreover, extrusion resulted in a further
decrease in tannin content. Extrusion temperature and
feed moisture showed signicant effects. Alonso et al.
(1998) found that extrusion of peas under conditions of
1481C, 25% moisture and 100 rpm was most effective in
tannins reduction. Also, Alonso et al. (2000b) studied
the effects of extrusion and conventional processing
methods on protein and antinutritional factors in peas
and they found varietal changes in their tannin contents,
and extrusion was most effective in reducing tannins
than the other processes.

3.1.4. Trypsin inhibitor

Changes in trypsin inhibitor of studied legumes due to
soaking and extrusion processing is shown in Table 2.
The raw peas, chickpeas, faba and kidney beans
contained 0.78, 15.08, 2.31 and 19.50 U/mg, respectively.
Soaking the raw legumes reduced the inhibitor by 15.4%
for peas, 9.2% for chickpeas, 19.9% for faba beans and
only by 1.5% for kidney bean. These variations in the
percentage of inhibitor loss may be attributed to the
changes in the seed coat permeability of these legumes.
The reduction of trypsin inhibitor by soaking pretreatment may be due to the water-soluble nature of the
inhibitor that permits its migration from legume seeds
into the soaking medium. These results are in agreement
with those reported by many workers (Gateld, 1980;
Ali, 1988). Complete inhibition of trypsin inhibitor in all
tested legumes was noticed by extrusion under all
studied conditions as seen in Table 2. These results
agree with the reports of Poel, Stolp, and Zuilichem
(1992) and Alonso et al. (2000a, b).

3.1.3. Total phenols

As shown in Tables 1a, b and 6, total phenols
signicantly varied among the studied legumes. Raw
faba beans contained the highest level (850 mg/100 g)
followed by kidney beans, while pea seeds contained the
least phenol contents (460 mg/100 g). Soaking in water
signicantly reduced legume phenols. The mean values
decreased, as shown in Table 1b, from 552 to 437 mg/
100 g. This decrease was due to leaching of water-soluble
phenols into soaking water. Extrusion of the tested
legumes further decreased their total phenols. The

3.1.5. a-Amylase inhibitor

The effect of soaking and extrusion conditions on aamylase inhibitors in peas, chickpeas, faba and kidney
beans is shown in Table 3. The amylase inhibitor was
not detected in all tested legumes except in kidney beans,
which contained 76.0 and 116.2 U/g, against pancreatic
and salivary amylases, respectively. These values
decreased upon soaking to 46.4 and 77.0 U/g, which
corresponded to 38.9% and 33.7% of the original
values. However, extrusion treatments completely
abolished the activity of the inhibitor. Studies on the

Table 2
Effect of soaking, feed moisture and extrusion temperature on trypsin inhibitor (U/mg)
Treatment

Feed moisture (%)

Barrel temp. (1C)

Trypsin inhibitor (U/mg)

Faba beans

Peas

Chickpeas

Kidney beans

Unsoaked

Raw (control)
18
18
22
22

Raw (control)
140
180
140
180

2.31
n.d. [100]
n.d. [100]
n.d. [100]
n.d. [100]

0.78
n.d. [100]
n.d. [100]
n.d. [100]
n.d. [100]

15.08
n.d. [100]
n.d. [100]
n.d. [100]
n.d. [100]

19.50
n.d. [100]
n.d. [100]
n.d. [100]
n.d. [100]

Soaked

Raw (control)
18
18
22
22

Raw (control)
140
180
140
180

1.85 [19.9]
n.d. [100]
n.d. [100]
n.d. [100]
n.d. [100]

0.66 [15.4]
n.d. [100]
n.d. [100]
n.d. [100]
n.d. [100]

13.69 [9.2]
n.d. [100]
n.d. [100]
n.d. [100]
n.d. [100]

19.20 [1.5]
n.d. [100]
n.d. [100]
n.d. [100]
n.d. [100]

n.d.=not detected.
Values in the brackets indicated the percentage decrease over the control values.

E.A. Abd El-Hady, R.A. Habiba / Lebensm.-Wiss. U.-Technol. 36 (2003) 285293

289

Table 3
Effect of soaking, feed moisture and extrusion temperature on a-amylase inhibitora (U/mg) of extruded legumesb
Treatment

Unsoaked

Soaked

Feed moisture (%)

Barrel temperature (1C)

Kidney beans
Pancreatic

Salivary
116.2
n.d. [100]
n.d. [100]
n.d. [100]
n.d. [100]

Raw (control)
18
18
22
22

Raw (control)
140
180
140
180

76
n.d.
n.d.
n.d.
n.d.

Raw (control)
18
18
22
22

Raw (control)
140
180
140
180

46.4 [38.9]
n.d. [100]
n.d. [100]
n.d. [100]
n.d. [100]

[100]
[100]
[100]
[100]

77 [33.7]
n.d. [100]
n.d. [100]
n.d. [100]
n.d. [100]

Values in the brackets indicated the percentage decrease over the control values.
a
Against salivary and pancreatic amylases.
b
Faba beans, peas and chickpeas showed no activity of the inhibitor against both amylases. n.d.=not detected.

properties of amylase inhibitors in some legumes are

reported elsewhere (Singh, Kherdekar, & Jambunathan,
1982; El-Sayed, Ramadan, Ali, & El-Morsi, 1997), also,
the effect of extrusion process on chemical changes has
been elegantly reviewed (Kokini, 1993).
3.2. Ash and phosphorus content
Ash contents of raw soaked and unsoaked legumes
against the processed soaked and unsoaked ones are
shown in Table 4. Differences in ash were noticed
according to kind of legume. Raw kidney beans had the
highest ash content (4.55 g/100 g), while faba beans
showed the lowest value (3.19 g/100 g). Similar values
have been earlier reported by Bakr (1996). Soaking the
raw legume seeds brought about a slight decrease in
their ash contents (Table 4). Varietal characteristics were
important factors inuencing the transfer of some
elements from seeds to the surrounding aqueous
medium (Tabekhia & Luh, 1980). Kader (1995) found
that rate of water absorption varied according to legume
type.
3.2.1. Phytic acid phosphorus
Phytic acid phosphorus (Ph.P), total phosphorus
(T.P) and their percentage (Ph.P
100/T.P) of the
studied legumes are shown in Table 4. Ph.P followed
the trend of phytic acid previously discussed as the data
showed large variations among the tested legumes. Raw
unsoaked kidney beans showed the highest content
(3.10 mg/g), followed by peas (2.53 mg/g) and chickpeas
(2.30 mg/g) while faba beans contained the lowest level
(1.80 mg/g). A slight decrease was observed after the
legume seeds had been soaked in water. Similar results
have been reported in literature (Burbano et al., 1995).
Extrusion processing further reduced Ph.P, especially at
1801C and 22% moisture content. Phosphorus content

of phytate has been considered to be unavailable to

human and most animals (Fernandez et al., 1997).
The percentage of Ph.P to total phosphorus
(Ph.P
100/T.P) is very important since the phytate
phosphorus cannot be utilized by human being. This
percentage varied between 40% and 55.4% among the
raw legumes. Extrusion processing slightly decreased
Ph.P
100/T.P, which means increasing phosphorus
utilization. Many workers (Fernandez et al., 1997;
Nestares et al., 1999) reported that processing made
part of the Ph.P available. Also, some studies showed
that 4060% of T.P of legumes was present as phytate
(Grifths & Thomas, 1981).
3.3. Protein and in vitro digestibility
Changes in protein content of studied legumes due to
legume type and processing are shown in Tables 5a and
b and summarized in Table 6. Protein content in raw
unsoaked legumes varied between 28.97 g/100 g in faba
beans and 25.66 g/100 g in kidney beans. Soaking
decreased protein levels. This is due to leaching of some
of the water-soluble proteins into the soaking medium.
Extrusion processing also affected the protein contents.
Signicance was shown due to barrel temperature, while
no signicant effect was noticed for the feed moisture of
extruded legumes.
The in vitro protein digestibility (IVPD) greatly varied
among the tested legumes. Raw unsoaked kidney beans
showed the lowest IVPD (70.59%), while the rest of
legumes had comparable values (74.075.4%; Table 5a).
Extrusion processing enhanced the in vitro protein
digestibility in all studied legumes. For example, the
IVPD of the faba beans increased from 75.4% in raw
unsoaked seeds to 80.4% in soaked extruded seeds at
1401C and 18% moisture content. Also, the kidney
beans IVPD increased from 70.59% in unsoaked raw

Mean1

Raw
18
18
22
22

Raw
140
180
140
180

3.56
3.56
3.50
3.55
3.60

3.35
3.38
3.22
3.20
3.19

4.55
4.43
4.35
4.53
4.42

Kidney
beans
1.80
1.93
1.75
1.76
1.70

Faba
beans
2.53
2.35
2.27
2.30
2.23

Peas

2.30
2.29
2.23
2.17
2.06

Chickpeas
3.10
3.07
2.85
2.90
2.71

Kidney
beans
4.50
4.46
4.36
4.47
4.40

Faba
beans

T.P (mg/g)

5.12
5.06
5.04
5.03
5.00

Peas

4.60
4.51
4.57
4.46
4.51

Chickpeas
5.60
5.42
5.55
5.40
5.55

Kidney
beans

40.0
43.3
40.1
39.4
38.4

Faba
beans

49.4
46.4
45.0
45.7
44.6

Peas

Ph.P
100/T.P

50.0
50.8
48.8
48.7
45.7

Chickpeas

55.4
56.6
51.4
53.7
48.8

Kidney
beans

3.39
3.41
3.42
3.35
3.37

3.00
2.91
2.92
2.92
2.91

4.42
4.49
4.11
4.39
4.14

1.73
1.55
1.49
1.44
1.35

2.39
2.14
2.04
2.09
2.01

2.25
2.26
2.10
2.18
2.07

2.80
2.93
2.76
2.85
2.68

4.30
4.37
4.22
4.31
4.27

5.02
5.01
5.06
5.00
4.99

4.42
4.47
4.34
4.46
4.42

5.20
5.20
5.10
5.12
5.15

40.2
35.5
35.3
33.4
31.6

47.6
42.7
40.3
41.8
40.3

50.9
50.6
48.4
48.9
46.8

53.8
56.4
54.1
55.7
52.0

3.0070.06 3.3870.03 2.9370.03 4.3170.16 1.5170.13 2.1370.14 2.1770.08 2.8070.08 4.2970.05 5.0270.02 4.4270.05 5.1570.04 35.272.9 42.572.7 49.171.5 54.471.5

3.11
2.99
2.95
2.96
3.00

3.1470.03 3.5570.03 3.2770.08 4.4670.07 1.7970.08 2.3470.11 2.2170.09 2.9370.14 4.4470.05 5.0570.04 4.5370.05 5.5070.08 40.271.7 46.271.7 48.871.7 53.272.8

3.19
3.16
3.11
3.12
3.12

Chickpeas

Ph.P (mg/g)

Ph.P=phytic acid phosphorus; T.P=total phosphorus and Ph.P
100/T.P=phytic phosphorus
100/total phosphorus
1
Overall mean7standard error, calculated a part from other effects (i.e. soaking effect).

Soaked

Mean1

Raw
140
180
140
180

Barrel Ash (g/100 g)

Feed
moisture temp.
Faba
Peas
(1C)
(%)
beans

Unsoaked Raw
18
18
22
22

Treatment

Table 4
Effect of soaking, feed moisture and extrusion temperature on ash, phytic phosphorus, total phosphorus and the percentage of phytic phosphorus to the total phosphorus

290
E.A. Abd El-Hady, R.A. Habiba / Lebensm.-Wiss. U.-Technol. 36 (2003) 285293

Raw
18
18
22
22

Raw
18
18
22
22

Feed moisture (%)

Raw
140
180
140
180

Raw
140
180
140
180

Barrel temp. (1C)

29.60
29.69
29.64
28.41
28.38

28.97
28.89
28.70
28.43
28.22

26.99
25.13
24.46
25.33
25.95

26.50
25.53
25.69
25.85
25.61

26.30
26.14
25.90
24.96
25.03

25.98
26.49
25.02
25.77
25.66

25.73
24.13
23.57
23.35
25.60

25.66
24.96
22.88
25.50
25.43

Kidney beans

76.00
80.40
78.06
79.64
78.93

75.40
78.40
78.40
78.20
78.61

75.20
77.85
78.05
78.05
76.76

74.47
77.63
77.27
76.22
75.59

Peas

74.80
80.20
79.67
80.39
81.11

74.00
78.22
79.40
77.50
80.16

Chickpeas

Faba beans

Chickpeas

Faba beans

Peas

In vitro protein digestibility (%)

Protein (g/100 g)

70.21
79.26
77.36
78.04
77.30

70.59
76.77
77.31
78.74
76.41

Kidney beans

1401C
26.15 a

Barrel temp.

1801C
25.98 b

22%
26.10 a

Soaked
25.98 b

1401C
78.53 a

18%
78.39 a

Unsoaked
77.87 b

Peas
77.18 c

Means having the same letter within each property are not signicantly different using Duncans Multiple Range Test (Po 0.05).
a
Calculated a part from other effects (i.e. main effect).

18%
26.04 a

Unsoaked
26.16 a

Kidney beans
24.43 d

Faba beans
78.83 b

Chickpeas
25.62 b

Faba beans
28.79 a

Peas
25.43 c

In vitro protein digestibility (%)

Protein (g/100 g)

Feed moisture

Soaking treatment

Legume type

Kidney beans
77.77 c

1801C
78.15 a

22%
78.29 a

Soaked
78.82 a

Chickpeas
79.59 a

(b) Meansa of protein and in vitro protein digestibility values as affected by legume type, soaking treatment, feed moisture and barrel temperature tested for significance using Duncans Multiple Range Test

Soaked

Unsoaked

Treatment

(a) Effect of soaking, feed moisture and extrusion temperature on protein percentage and in vitro protein digestibility of extruded legumes

Table 5

E.A. Abd El-Hady, R.A. Habiba / Lebensm.-Wiss. U.-Technol. 36 (2003) 285293

291

E.A. Abd El-Hady, R.A. Habiba / Lebensm.-Wiss. U.-Technol. 36 (2003) 285293

292

Table 6
Summary of analysis of variance (ANOVA) of the effects of legume type, soaking and extrusion conditions (feed moisture and barrel temperature) on
antinutrients, protein and in vitro protein digestibility
Sources of variance

Phytic acid (mg/g)

Tannins (mg/100 g)

Phenols (mg/100 g)

Protein (g/100 g)

Digestibility (%)

Legume type (L)

Soaking (S)
Feeding moisture (M)
Barrel temperature (T)
Interactions
L
S
L
M
L
T
S
M
S
T
M
T
L
S
M
L
S
T
M
S
T
M
L
T
L
S
M
T

****
****
****
****

****
****
****
****

****
****
****
****

****
***
NS
**

****
***
NS
NS

****
***
****
**
NS
NS

****

****
***
**
NS
NS
NS

****
****

NS
NS
**
NS
NS
NS
NS
NS
NS
NS
NS

n
n

NS
NS
n

**
***
****
NS
****
****
NS
****
NS

****
****
NS
**

****
****
****
****
****
NS
****
****

Signicant at Po0.05; **signicant at Po0.01; ***signicant at Po0.001; ****signicant at Po0.0001; NS=not signicant.

seeds to 79.26% in soaked extruded seeds at the same

condition. These results agree with those of Alonso et al.
(2000a) in extruded peas and Quintana et al. (1998) in
extruded pinto bean meal. The nutritive value of legume
proteins has been known to be low in comparison to
animal proteins. This has been attributed to poor
digestibility, deciency of sulfur amino acids and the
presence of antinutritional factors. The present treatments (soaking and extrusion) have shown to improve
the in vitro protein digestibility, enhance phosphorus
availability (by reducing phytate and phytate phosphorus to T.P%), reduce tannins and polyphenols and
eliminate trypsin and a-amylase inhibitors when present.
Therefore, treating soaked legumes with extrusion at
conditions of barrel temperature and moisture content
of 1401C and 22% or 1801C and 22% would improve
the nutritive value of the studied legumes (peas,
chickpeas, faba and kidney beans).
In conclusion, extrusion of legumes a priori soaked in
water for 16 h is recommended to improve the nutritive
value of these legumes in order to increase its utilization
in human and animal nutrition when consumed directly
or as an ingredient of certain meals. Although, scale-up
and applicability of these ndings to other large- or
commercial-scale extruders should not be overlooked.

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