Chemical and Nutritional Studies on Mesquite Beans (Prosopis juliflora)

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Abstract
Mesquite beans (Prosopis juliflora) consisted of pericarp, hulls and kernels. With the exception of kernels, composition of beans and their fractions were protein, 10–15%; fat, 2–3%; crude fiber, 20–30%; sucrose, 21%; reducing sugars, 2–6%. Kernels contained 38% protein, 3% fat and 9% crude fiber. Bean trypsin inhibitor content was 1.4 TIU/mg. Bean protein isoelectric point was pH 5. Mesquite protein concentrate and isolate were prepared, however, by increasing solubility at the extraction pH (pH 10) with NaCl and decreasing it at the isoelectric point with (NH4)2SO4. First and second limiting amino acids for bean protein were threonine and isoleucine, respectively; the protein was high in total sulfur amino acids and tryptophan. Corrected PER was 1.4.