Nutritional properties of nonrice crops in the Asian Rice Farming Systems Network

Six legume crops and three cereal crops in the Asian Rice Farming Systems Network were compared with IR58 brown rice in terms of dry matter, energy and protein yields per hectare. Sorghum was closest to brown rice in dry matter and energy yield but soybean had the highest protein yield. Peanut and soybean had higher crude fat than the other crops which accounted for their high energy content and yield among the legumes. Amino acid analysis showed cowpea, mungbean, pigeonpea, bushsitao, and soybean protein as limiting in sulfur amino acids (cysteine + methionine). Peanut protein was limiting in either lysine or tryptophan + threonine. Corn, sorghum and wheat proteins were limiting in lysine.