Amino acids profile and health attributes of Bambara groundnut (<i>Vigna subteranea</i> L.) and sesame (<i>Sesamum indicum</i> L.): a comparative study

Healthy seeds samples of Bambara groundnut (Vigna subteranea L.) and sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) commonly found in Nasarawa State, Nigeria were studied for comparative nutritional evaluation with respect to proximate and amino acid compositions using standard analytical techniques. The respective proximate composition values (%) for the Bambara groundnut (Vigna subteranea L.) and Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) samples were: (10.39 and 3.53), crude protein (25.68 and 9.67), crude fat (25.67 and 3.44), ash (7.12 and 2.42) and crude fibre (10.39 and 3.53). The calculated nitrogen-free extract (NFE) was 26.10 and 71.07% respectively. The results showed that Bambara groundnut gives appreciable values of crude protein, fat and fibre which are twice the values obtained for sesame. The anti-nutritional composition phytate, for the two samples Bambara groundnut and sesame, recorded a triple digit’s values (mg/100g) of 188.74 and 186.77, tannins double digits value of 14.91 in Bambara while a single digit value of 8.91 in sesame respectively. The amino acid profile revealed that both samples contained useful quantities of most essential amino acid. Glutamic acid had the highest value in both samples 18.31 and 18.67 g/100g crude protein while cystine recorded the lowest value of 0.60 g/100g cp in Bambara and tryptophan 1.36 g/100g cp in sesame. By comparison with the FAO/WHO standards, the EAA score value of the samples based on white hen’s egg profile, showed that both samples are mostly greater than 1.0 g/100g except for Ile, Lys, Met + Cys (TSAA) and Thr in Bambara and Ile, Lys, Thr and Val in sesame which may require supplementation based on the provisional amino acid scoring pattern. The incorporation of the seeds into diets has the capacity of enhancing its health applications due to the presence of some important nutrients containing health-protecting and disease-preventing abilities.