Abstract

Pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan L.) is an important perennial pulse from the family Fabaceae. It is one of the important underutilized pulses having high nutritional value and can be used as a basic ingredient for the preparation of valueadded food products. The present investigation aimed to study the influence of soaking and germination on nutritional and anti-nutritional components, minerals (Fe, Zn, Mn, and Cu), and bioactive components of pigeon pea grains. The effect of soaking was studied at 12 and 24 h while that of germination at 24, 48, and 72 h. The results revealed that there was a 6.34% and 15.41% increase in protein contents during soaking and germination treatments, respectively. A significant (P ≤ 0.05) increase in reducing power (91.46%) and metal chelating activity (64.16%) was observed in germinated pigeon pea. The phenolic components and antioxidant activity increased by 5.34 and 76.15% after 72 h of germination, respectively, but the anti-nutritional components like tannin contents and the phytic acids decreased significantly (P ≤ 0.05) by 57.97 and 63.05%, respectively after 72 h of germination. A significant (P ≤ 0.05) increase in mineral contents was observed after the soaking and germination treatments of pigeon pea grains. Therefore the soaking and germination processing of pigeon pea grains resulted in enhancing the nutritive value and bioactive potential with a reduction in anti-nutritional compounds.

Key words: Anti-nutrients, Antioxidant activity, Germination, Pigeon pea, Soaking