Results and Discussion
Total sugar content
Total sugar was found to increase in all germinated
legume samples. In germinated kidney beans, total
sugar increased from 118.46 to 134.75 g/kg d.w. while
in germinated mung beans, it was increased from
122.07 g/kg d.w. to 157.4 g/kg d.w. For soy beans,
germination caused total sugar to increase from
157.53 g/kg d.w. to 194.86 g/kg d.w. and for peanuts,
germination increased total sugar from 118.61 g/kg
d.w. to 160.42 g/kg d.w. Comparison of all legume
samples, the most dominant available carbohydrate
was glucose and arabinose. After germination,
glucose was increased in most samples except mung
beans (decreased) while for arabinose, germination
caused this sugar to reduce in the samples.
Urbano et al. (2005) suggested that germination
process caused the metabolic changes in legume seeds
in which carbohydrate storage in the form of starch
and oligosaccharides were hydrolysed and caused
the increase of sugar levels. Furthermore, MartinCabrejas
et al. (2008) also suggested that during
germination, α-galactosidase activity was increased,
causing the break of α-1,6-galatosidic linkages and
thus, increase the amount of total sugar.