Antinutritional Factors in Food Grain Legumes

Antinutritional Factors in Food Grain Legumes

Onder, Mustafa
Kahraman, Ali

The use of plants to meet the world’s food needs is vital to human survival. On a global basis, over 65 % of food protein and over 80 % of food energy is supplied by plants. In terms of gross tonnage, approximately 98 % of the total world food production is harvested from land sources and only 2 % from the ocean and inland waters. Of the total food harvest, plant products directly contribute about 82 % of the gross tonnage, whereas the other sources (animal and marine products) together contribute only 18 %. The avarage production of plant protein potentially edible by humans was estimated to be 200 million tons, compared to 50 million tones of animal protein. Their unfavorable balance of amino acid requires that complementary protein be provided for optimal nutrition. In the developed countries of the Western world, animal protein make up a substantial portion of the diet. In the developing countries, however, the animal proteins are either too expensive, so legumes serve as main sources of both protein and calories in many of these tropical and subtropical areas of the world. Dry legumes and legume products are, in fact, the richest source of food protein from plants.

Conference or Workshop Item
PeerReviewed

2009-06

467