A prospective of underutilized legume moth bean (Vigna aconitifolia (Jacq.) Marechal): Phytochemical profiling, bioactive compounds and in vitro pharmacological studies

Key source of plant dietary proteins in humans are legume seeds. Moth bean (Vigna aconitifolia) seeds constitute one of these however, in comparison to other major legume crops, still remains underutilized. Herein, comprehensive biochemical profiling is attempted in 60 moth bean accessions belonging to diverse geographical regions of India. The study addressed phytochemical (sugar, starch, protein, amino acids, minerals, tannins, phytic acids and lectin) and pharmacological attributes (antioxidant and alpha-amylase, alpha-glucosidase, ACE-I inhibition activity). UPLC-PDA revealed thirteen different phenolic acids, of these, catechin (987.37 mu g/g dw), tannic acid (423.45 mu g/g dw) and gallic acid (300.68 mu g/g dw) were dominating. Derivatives of major flavonoids corroborated antihyperglycemic and antihypertensive bioactivities and revealed positive association with a-glucosidase and ACE-I inhibition. Some accession presents quantitatively higher contents of magnesium and iron thus utilisable as nutraceuticals. This maiden study identified bioactive compounds in some of the moth bean accessions viz. IC-36361, IC-311448, IC-415152, CAZRI and RMO-257 that endorse health properties.