Mung Bean Nutritional Value

Nutritional Value of Mung Bean

Mung beans are a pulse or food legume crop used primarily as dried seeds and occasionally as forage or green pods and seeds for vegetables (Tomooka, 2002). Dried seeds may be eaten whole or split, cooked, fermented, or milled and ground into flour. Mung beans can also be made into products like soups, porridge, confections, curries, and alcoholic beverages. In western cultures, mung bean sprouts are popularly used as a fresh salad vegetable (Lambrides, 2007).

Importantly, mung beans are composed of about 20%–24% protein. Globulin and albumin are the main storage proteins found in mung bean seeds and make up over 60% and 25% of the total mung bean protein, respectively. Therefore, due to its high protein content

Mung bean seeds and sprouts are excellent examples of functional foods that lower the risk of various diseases.

Improved technologies, high yielding varieties, soil test results and appropriate crop management practices are major issues to enhance the productivity of mung bean. Hence, there is a need to strengthen the capacities of key stakeholders involved in mung bean production in the dry zone of Ethiopia in terms of understanding and applying best practices for enhancing climate resilience in the seed production, quality control and maintenance aspects of mung bean crop.

Production of mung beans is challenged by many factors. Therefore, a concerted effort by farmers, researchers, development agencies, and government are needed to ensure the opportunities for production.

. Lambrides, C.J, (2007). Mungbean. Gen Mapp Mol Breed Plants. 3:69–90.

52. Wang S.Y., Wu J.H., Ng T.B., Ye X.Y., Rao, P.F., (2004). A non-specific lipid transfer protein with antifungal and antibacterial activities from the mung bean. Peptides. 25:1235– 1242.

53. Kudre T.G, Benjakul, S., Kishimura, H., (2013). Comparative study on

J Sci Food Agric. 93:2429–2436.

54. Mubarak. A., (2005). Nutritional composition and antinutritional factors of mung bean seeds (phaseolus aureus) as affected by some home traditional processes. Food Chem. 89:489– 495.

55. Zheng, J.X., (1999). Functional foods-second volume. Beijing: China Light Industry