NUTRITIONAL-CHEMICAL COMPOSITION AND ANTINUTRITIONAL FACTORS IN SEEDS OF Enterolobium cyclocarpum

Chemical analyses were performed to quantify the protein (CP), fat (CF), fiber (CF), ash, humidity; nitrogen free extract (NFE) and antinutritional factors in extracts from Enterolobium cyclocarpum seeds. E. cyclocarpurn seeds have a great potential in pharmaceutical and chemical industries due to the high content of minerals, carbohydrates and proteins. However, the seeds also contain cyanogenic glycosides such as trypsin inhibitory factor and cyanhidric acid, resulting in antinutritional effects. Trough enzymatic hydrolysis (beta-glycosidase), trypsine inhibition oil all aqueous extract of the sample (0.1 N NaOH). By using a standard trypsine solution, the proteolytic activity in a synthetic substrate (benzoyl-arginine-p-nitroanilide) was studied. Analyses of the complete seeds showed; CP 26.13%, CF 2.85%, CF 4.95%, Ash 2.95%, and NFE 63.1%. The dried almonds contained CP 34.5%, CF 7.6%, undetectable fiber, ash 3.3%, and NFE 54.6%. No hemaglutinins were detected, whereas 4.82 units/mg of trypsine inhibition. and 0.76 mg/100g of HCN were found. The low concentrations of trypsine inhibitor and HCN will be reduced even more by the heat treatment previous consumption, which makes the seeds suitable for human, beings or animals.