Proximate composition, fatty acid composition and free amino acid composition of sprouts

Abstract

For the purpose of studying the benefits of sprouts from the standpoint of food and nutrition science, we determined the primary, secondary, and tertiary functional components of various types of seed sprouts.
The protein content (per 100 g of dry weight) reached as high as 56.1% for peas, 52.3% for soy beans grown in Japan, 49.5% for soy beans grown in the United States, and 50.0% for soy beans grown in China. In other types of sprouts, the protein content ranged from 34% to 48%. The lipid content ranged from 0.4% to 1.6%. As for the fatty acid composition, linolenic acid accounted for 23% to 48% in the sprouts from seeds other than buckwheat and soy beans, and was especially high in those from cress at 47.7% and peas at 40.6%. The total free amino acid content (per 100 g of dry weight) ranged from 1,873.0 to 5,022.0 mg for radish, buckwheat, cress, broccoli, red cabbage, mustard, and rucola sprouts. In contrast, the content was markedly higher in peas, Japanese soy beans, United States soy beans, and Chinese soy beans, reaching as high as 13,787.5 mg, 12,768.8 mg, 10,845.9 mg, and 11,931.0 mg, respectively. The major free amino acid was asparagine in pea and soy bean sprouts, while it was glutamine in the other types. The γ-aminobutyric acid content (per 100 g of dry weight) was 530.4 mg in peas, 321.9 mg in Japanese soy beans, 210.8 mg in United States soy beans, 267.8 mg in Chinese soy beans, and 246.3 mg in rucola.
On the basis of these findings, it is suggested that sprouts from peas and soy beans of the legume family have a high content of fine protein and flavor-enhancing free amino acid components, as well as γ-aminobutyric acid, which is known to have a blood pressure depressant effect.