Nutritional and functional properties of lentil (Lens culinaris), broad bean (Faba vicia L.) and chickpea (Cicer arietinum) as an alternative in animal feed.

Abstract

Legumes in animal feed represent an alternative due to their high content of protein, fiber and bioactive compounds. They can be used alone or in mixed crops with grasses, replacing soybeans and other oilseeds, as they are less expensive and easy to acquire. Given the above, the objective was to carry out a comparative study of the nutritional and techno-functional properties of lentil, broad bean and chickpea for use in animal feed. Study material: lentil (Lens culinaris), broad bean (Faba vicia L.) and chickpea (Cicer arietinum). They were physically characterized: size, hectoliter weight, color and weight. Subsequently, they were ground to determine their proximal chemical composition (moisture, ash, protein, carbohydrates, fiber and lipids) (AOAC, 2005) and techno-functional properties (solubility index and water absorption). The results indicate significant differences in the physical properties due to the typical characteristics of each legume. The chemical composition highlights that the lentil is high in protein (30.62%) and crude fiber (10.92%) with respect to broad beans and chickpeas (protein: 26.37 and 22.74%; crude fiber: 3.0 and 4.80%), the oil in chickpeas (5.08%) was higher compared to lentil and broad bean (1.56 and 1.93%). The broad bean has the highest ash content (3.40%) with respect to chickpea (3.36%) and lentil (2.80%). In the techno-functional properties, the chickpea presented the highest IAA compared to broad beans and lentils (0.22, 0.11 and 0.13), with differences between chickpeas, lentils and broad beans, the highest ISA was for lentils (2.46), there was no significant difference. with chickpea and broad bean (2.25 and 2.39). It is concluded that the analyzed legumes, highlighting the lentil, have nutritional and functional properties suitable for use in animal feed and are comparable to the values reported for soybean meal, and lentils can be used as a potential substitute.