Effect of cooking and supplementation on nutritional value of Gram (Cicer arietinum)

The study was conducted to determine the nutiritional value of Gram (Cicer arietinum) in raw and cooked forms. Supplement value of various types of meat i.e. poultry, mutton and beef at 10, 15, and 20 percent levels for dites containing cooked Gram was also assessed. Nutritional value of Gram was determined by chemical analysis as well as through rat assay. Gram contained an average of 23.01 percent protein and less then two percent fibre. Minor changes were noticed in the proximate composition of Gram after cooking. Conventional method of cooking resulted in a loss amounting to more then one percent in Gram protein. Gram had good amount of lysine (1.31 percent) but cooking destroyed 28 percent of it. Other amino acids in Gram also showed losses on cooking. Protein efficiency ratio (PER) of diets containing raw Gram was 1.46, which was drastically reduced to 0.79 by cooking. Cooking of Gram significantly improved true digestibility (TD) percentage from 64.57 in raw to 77.87 percent in cooked. However, net protein utilization (NPU) was improved from 36.69 in raw to 38.44 in cooked. Diets containing cooked Gram and supplemented with different types of meat significantly improved PER (1.02 to 1.45), TD 78.13 to 86.58 percent and NPU 38.61 to 44.40 percent over non supplemented diets. 20 percent level of supplemented meat showed comparatively better results than other levels in case of PER, TD and NPU. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Inc.