Nutritional Evaluation and Chemical Composition of Seeds From Desert Ironwood (Olneya Tesota)

SUMMARY The nutritional attributes of desert ironwood (Olneya tesota) seeds from three different trees were examined. The seeds contained 17–21% protein, 33–39% lipid, and large amounts of canavanine which was not extracted by traditional cooking methods. The amino acid, mineral, and sugar contents were also determined. The mean amino acid score was 38, with methionine plus cysteine the limiting amino acids. Feeding uncooked seed meal to rats results in a Protein Efficiency Ratio of 0.37 and a diet and nitrogen digestibility of 89% and 81% respectively. Cooking raised the PER.