Effects of Germination on the Proximate Composition and Nutritional Quality of Winged Bean ( Psophocarpus tetragonolobus ) Seeds

Winged beans were germinated using the between paper technique. The nonprotein nitrogen was found to increase gradually and the protein nitrogen content to decrease. A slight decrease in the lipid content was also observed. Trypsin inhibitor activity was uneffected by germination. However, lipoxygenase activity was found to decrease; 77% of the original activity was lost after 120 hr. These changes are compared to the changes in proximate composition of other legumes during germination. Following a decrease in the amino acid composition of the seeds after 48 hr of germination, significant increases in the concentrations of cysteine, aspartic acid, and histidine were found after 72 hr incubation.