Nutritional assessment of magnesium from raw and processed chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) in growing rats.

摘要

The effect of different processing methods (dry heating, soaking in distilled water, acidic solution or basic solution and soaking + cooking) on the nutritive utilization of Mg from chickpeas was studied in growing Wistar rats (n= 5 males and 5 females per experiment) fed on these chickpeas ad libitum for 10 days. The effects of processing on several seed components that affect Mg utilization were also investigated. Although a large amount of the Mg from raw chickpeas was absorbed (3.92±0.36 mg/ratdaily), the digestive utilization of Mg (apparent digestibility coefficient) from unprocessed chickpeas was low. Processing led to an overall decrease in Mg absorption and digestive utilization, because of modifications in certain components (e.g, fibre) of the legume. Feeding with raw processed chickpeas elevated urinary excretion of Mg (4.22±0.37 mg/rat daily) in comparison with 1.11±0.09 mg/rat daily in growing rats fed on a standard diet. This increase resulted in a negative metabolic Mg balance. However, muscle and bone concentrations of Mg were not affected by any of the experimental diets.