2. Materials and methods
2.1. Sample preparation
Green gram (Phaseolus aureus), cowpea (Vigna catjang),
lentil (Lens culinaris) and chickpea (Cicer arietinum) were
obtained from local market. Legume seeds were cleaned,
washed and soaked in 4–5 volumes of water (22–25 1C) for
12 h under ambient laboratory conditions. At the end of
the period, the water was drained and the seed samples
were allowed to germinate under a wet muslin cloth for
24 h and then dried in a cabinet dryer (Magumps, Mumbai,
India) at 5075 1C for 16–18 h. A portion of germinated
samples was dehulled in a dehusker (Versatile dhal mill,
designed and developed by Central Food Technological
Research Institute, Mysore, India). Ungerminated seeds
served as control. All the three samples, (1) control
(ungerminated), (2) germinated and (3) dehulled (after
germination) were milled to flour in a plate mill (Bhavani
Industries, Bangalore, India). The processing of samples
was done in one batch and processed samples were stored
in airtight containers for further analysis.