Professor University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
Abstract: Faba bean is a legume that has been grown in Canada as a minor crop for the last five decades. Due to the high content of protein, micronutrients, and dietary fiber in its seeds, faba bean is a promising crop for the food industry. A limiting factor, however, for the widespread consumption of faba bean is the presence of vicine and convicine (v/c), which could cause favism in people with glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency. In addition to these anti-nutritional compounds, faba bean also contains B vitamins and levodopa (L-DOPA). B vitamins are essential for various metabolic processes, and L-DOPA is a nutraceutical compound frequently used for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease. In the last few years, we developed accurate quantitation approaches for B vitamins, v/c and L-DOPA from faba bean, using ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization triple quadrupole mass spectrometry working in selected reaction monitoring mode (UHPLC-ESI SRM MS). B vitamins were quantified from 30 genotypes of mature seeds and seed coats, with a range of 23.1 to 39.3 ug/g of total B vitamins in whole seeds, and 11.5-30.3 ug/g in seed coats. Vitamins B1, B2 and B3 had high concentrations in whole seeds, while B5, B3 and B9 had high concentrations in seed coat. v/c and L-DOPA were quantified from seeds of different breeding lines, and faba bean-based food ingredients. In mature dry seeds, (V+C) was in the range of 0.3-10.3 mg/g, and L-DOPA 0.27-1.11 mg/g. In processed food ingredients, v/c and L-DOPA could be reduced or enriched during food processing. In addition, v/c are mainly present in faba bean cotyledon and only present at trace levels in seed coat. L-DOPA, however, has similar or slightly higher concentration in seed coat compared to that in cotyledon. Seed coat has abundant B vitamins and L-DOPA, which makes it a value-added by-product.