MESQUITE AS FOOD: The bean pods of the mesquite can be dried and ground into flour, adding a sweet, nutty taste to breads, or used to make jelly or wine. When used in baking, the mesquite bean flour is used in combination with other flours – substitute ¼ cup-to-½ cup mesquite flour in each cup grain flour. Mesquite bean flour is used in breads, pancakes, muffins, cakes and even cookies. Mesquite powder is also high in calcium, magnesium, potassium, iron and zinc, and is rich in the amino acid lysine.[7] Wild animals also eat mesquite bean pods. In places like Death Valley and much of the Sonoran Desert coyote feces consisting almost entirely of mesquite beans and pods can often be seen[clarification needed]. It is important to note that the bean has a low amount of an anti-nutrition protein that interferes with enzymes that convert proteins into amino acids (called trypsin inhibitors) as well as Phytohemagglutinins[a]. It is unwise to eat these beans raw; they should be cooked to destroy these harmful proteins.[8] [7] ^ Amsden, M. (2006) RAWvolution: Gourmet Living Cuisine. HarperCollins Publishing. Retrieved on August 30, 2009. [8]^ Casa de Fruta. Retrieved March 06, 2012. [a] Phytohemagglutinins: As a toxin, it can cause poisoning in monogastric animals, such as humans, through the consumption of raw or improperly prepared kidney beans. Measured in haemagglutinating units (hau), a raw red kidney bean can contain up to 70,000 hau. This can be reduced to safe levels by correct cooking (boiling for at least ten minutes at 100°C). However, cooking at 80°C, such as in a slow cooker, can increase this danger and raise the available hau up to fivefold.
Posted on: Mon, 29 Jul 2013 14:25:38 +0000
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