LEUCINE: In the CRC Handbook of Phytochemical Constituents, sunflower tops the

charts at 3.6% leucine, followed by watercress at 3.3, blackbeans, jute and soy at
3.2, taro leaves and winged beans at 2.7, sheat and spinach at 2.6, velvetbean at
2.5, tepary at 2.4, and butternut, fababeans, lentil, pea, pigweed, and sesame, at
2.3, and lablab, lambsquarter, and pumpkin seed at 2.2%, on a calculated dry
weight basis, well rounded. Zello et al (1995) suggest a requirement of 14
mg/kg/day leucine for adults, based on nitrogen-balance studies, but they maintain
that such estimates are too low, by ca 1/2.