form and covered with a muslin cloth. Fresh, cold water was
sprinkled twice daily on the seeds which were allowed to
spout for 48h. The sprouted seeds were dehulled, washed,
sun dried for 6 days and then oven-dried at 50 C for 6h to
equilibrate moisture. Rootlets were then removed. The
second sample was blanched (95-98 C) for 5 minutes in
excess boiling water containing 2% trona (Potash), drained
and then manually dehulled. The seeds were sun-dried for 6
days and then oven-dried at 50 C for 16h to equilibrate
moisture. Both samples were milled in a hammer mill
(Retch 5657, GmbH, SRGermany) into flour and sieved
through a metal sieve of 160 pore size. Flours were
sealed in polyethylene bags in airtight containers, stored at
room temperature (27±2 C) until used.