NATURE OF SOME INDIAN LEGUME LIPIDS

Total lipids, constituting 1.7-2.2%, from seven breeding varieties of five legumes, viz. the cow pea (Vigna catiang), field bean (Dolichos lablab), red gram (Cajanus cajan), horse gram (Dolichos biflorus, two varieties), and black gram (Phaseolus mungo, two varieties), were extracted with chloroform-methanol, purified (Sephadex G-25), resolved by silicic acid column chromatography, and analyzed for component fatty acids by gas chromatography. Neutral lipids, which were mostly triglycerides carrying 17-32% of total sterols (15-20% free and 2-11% as esters), constitute 46-52% of the total lipids, phospholipids 35-40%, and glycolipids 10-12%. All seven legume varieties showed similar proportions of lipid classes. In five varieties, the neutral lipids resembled phospholipids in fatty acid composition, but this was not so in the two black gram varieties. The latter, moreover, carried high proportions (33-60%) of linolenic acid in all lipid classes whereas the other legume lipids were all rich in linoleic acid (30-60%). Cultivars within a species exhibited identical lipid profiles. © 1978, American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.