Chemical Utilization of Albizia lebbeck Leaves for Developing Protein Concentrates as a Dietary Supplement

ABSTRACT

In search of nonconventional sources of protein to combat widespread malnutrition, the possibility of developing a protein concentrate as an alternative dietary supplement from abundantly available yet poorly valorized leaves of Albizia lebbeck (siris) was examined. A process for recovery of leaf protein concentrate (LPC) from these leaves was optimized and applied for isolation of LPCs from lower, middle, and upper canopies of the tree. The optimized conditions (leaves to water 1:9, coagulation at pH 4.0 using 1 N citric acid at 90°C for 11 minutes) afforded LPCs containing protein 37.15%, 37.57%, and 37.76% in 5.99%, 5.97%, and 6.07% yield, respectively. The proximate nutritional composition, pigments, minerals, in vitro digestibility, and antinutritional factors of these LPCs were determined. Analysis of variance of these data revealed no significant difference with respect to canopy. Use of Albizia lebbeck leaves for development of LPC as a food/feed supplement was revealed.

KEYWORDS:

• Albizia lebbeck
• antinutritional factor
• in vitro digestibility
• leaf protein concentrate
• nutritional composition

Acknowledgments

The authors are thankful to the director of Forest Research Institute, DehraDun, India, for encouragement and for providing necessary facilities to carry out the work.

Declaration of interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.

Funding

Lutful Haque Khan is grateful to the University Grant Commission (UGC), New Delhi, India, for financial assistance.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Lutful Haque Khan

Lutuful Haque Khan, PhD, received his PhD in 2015 from Forest Research Institute Deemed University, Dehradun-248006, India. Presently he is employed as a Senior Scientist in Modern Insecticide Limited, Ludhiana, Punjab, India. He is also a trained analytical chemist. His research interest is chemical examination of natural products for their value added utilization.

V. K. Varshney

V. K. Varshney, PhD, is a Senior Scientist at Chemistry Division, Forest Research Institute, Indian Council of Forestry Research & Education (ICFRE), Dehradun (Uttarakhand), India (http://fri.icfre.gov.in/). He received his PhD (Chemistry) in 1991 from Agra University, Agra, India. Subsequently in 1992 he joined the ICFRE as Scientist. He is a forest product chemist and trained in various national and overseas laboratories. His research interests include upgrading the value chain of (i) non wood forest products and (ii) biomass residues generated from plantations, and wood and agro based industries through their chemical examination and value addition.