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ANTINUTRITIONALAND FAVISM INDUCING FACTORS IN VICIA FABA L.:

NUTRITIONAL VALUE OF FABA BEANS; METABOLISM AND PROPERTIES OF
VICINE, CONVICINE AND DOPA-GLUCOSIDE
B. Bjerg*, B.O. Eggum**, 0. Olsen* and H. S0rensen*

*Chemistry Department
Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University
40 Thorvaldsensvej, DK-1871 Copenhagen V, Denmark
**National Institute of Animal Science
Department of Animal Physiology and Chemistry
25 Rolighedsvej, DK-1958 Copenhagen V, Denmark
ABSTRACT
Comprehensive investigations of antinutritional and favism inducing
factors in faba beans (Vicia faba L.) have been perforrned. The results are
presented in this and allied papers and include studies of the nutritional
value of faba beans in relation to the protein quality and the presence of
antinutritional and/or toxic constituents in the seeds. N-balance trials
with growing rats have revealed that fortification with threonine and rnethi-
onine irnproves the biological value and consequently the nutritional value.
True protein digestibility was rnarkedly higher for faba beans with relative-
ly low content of tannins and crude fibre (varieties with white flowers)
cornpared to faba beans with higher content of tannins and crude fibre
(varieties with coloured flowers). However, it has been revealed that other
low rnolecular weight faba bean cornpounds have appreciable antinutritional
and/or toxic effects. The favisrn inducing factors - vicine, convicine, dopa-
glucoside and their aglucones - have been assigned special attention and it
is shown that especially convicine is responsible for a reduced biological
value of faba beans. Methods of analysis suitable for quantitative deter-
rnination of these glucosides individually as well as isolation of sufficient
quantities of these cornpounds to perform feeding experirnents are presented.
Properties of vicine, convicine, dopa-glucoside and their aglucones; rneta-
bolisrn studies; and results frorn plant breeding prograrnrnes, devoted to the
elirnination of antinutritional and favisrn inducing factors are briefly
discussed.
INTRODUCTION
Amino acid composition and properties of proteins in faba
beans (Vicia faba L.) and its subspecies or botanical varieties,
e.g., major, equina, minor and paucijuga are dominated by
vicilin and legumin as for other legumes (Derbyshire et al.,
1976; Casey and Short, 1981). Nutritional studies have shown
that faba beans contain antinutritional and/or toxic consti-
tuents in addition to tannins, haemagglutinins and protease
inhibitors (Griffiths and Moseley, 1980; Sjödin et al., 1981;
Griffiths, 1981; Muduuli et al., 1982; Bjerg et al., 1983a).
The deleterious effects can in part be related to low molecular
weight constituents of faba beans suspected of causing favism
in man (Mager et al., 1980). In this respect, vicine, convicine

P. D. Hebblethwaite et al. (eds.), Vicia faba: Agronomy, Physiology and Breeding

© Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 1984
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and dopa-glucoside are considered to produce specific and

serious problerns.
This paper describes results obtained from a cornprehensive
study of the nutritive value of faba beans. The structures and
properties of vicine, convicine, dopa-glucoside and their a-
glucones are presented as well. The aglucones divicine, isoura-
rnil and dopa were produced by ß-D-glucosidase catalysed hydro-
lysis. Oxidation of the aglucones were followed by the use of
different redox cofactors in the assay mixtures. The coupled
redox reactions have been adapted to specific and sensitive
methods of vicine and convicine detection as well as to studies
of possible toxic effects caused by aglucones of the compounds.
The results presented reveal promising possibilities of
irnproving the nutritive quality of faba beans by breeding or
selecting for a low content of inherent antinutritional corn-
pounds.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The plant material consisted of Vicia faba L. cultivars/lines with
origin in different parts of Europe, Africa and the Middle East. The plants
were grown for at least one year under identical conditions in Denmark and
some of them were highly inbred as described previously (Bjerg et al.,
1983b).
General methods and equipment used for isolation, purification and
qualitative determination of the low molecular weight compounds, including
ion-exchange chromatography, gel filtration, PC, HVE, uv, 1H- and 13c-NMR-
spectroscopy, HPLC, GC/MS, amino acid analysis and other chemical analyses
have been described elsewhere (Bjerg et al., 1983a; Bjerg et al., 1983b, and
refs. cited therein).
Vicine, convicine and dopa-glucoside (Fig. 1) were isolated from faba
bean meal in appreciable amounts (Bjerg et al., 1983a). Dopa and other
chemieals were commercially available preparations of analytical-reagent
grade.
Glucosidase (EC 3.2.1.21) was a preparation from almonds (Boehringer-
Mannheim). The catalytic activities of the enzyme towards the synthetic sub-
strate PNPG (4-nitrophenyl-ß-D-glucopyranoside) and the glucosides from
V. faba (Fig. 1) were measured in terms of the rate of the reactions cata-
lysed in Mcllvaine buffer (pH = 5.0) at 25°C. The PNPG assay has been de-
scribed previously (Bille et al., 1983); when other substrates were used
(vide infra) determinations of time dependent changes in substrate and/or
product concentration were performed spectrophotometrically. 1 Unit =
1 pmole of substrate transformed into products/min/mg of protein.
Animals, diets and methods used in the N-balance trials with growing
rats have been described in detail elsewhere (Bjerg et al., 1983a).
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Structure and properties of vicine, convicine and dopa-glucoside