ANTINUTRITIONAL FACTORS

IN FOODS

BY
JEEVITHA
KOTA LAKSHMI
RAJA
RAJASHREE KANNAN
 Anti-nutritional factors
Compounds or substances which act to reduce
nutrient intake, digestion, absorption and utilization and
may produce other adverse effects are referred to as anti-
nutrients or anti-nutritional factors.
Secondary plant metabolites, also referred to as
anti-nutritional factors(ANFs), cause depressions in
growth performance and animal health due to a
variety of mechanisms including reducing protein
digestibility, binding to various nutrients or damaging
the intestinal wall, thereby lowering digestive
efficiency
 Anti-nutritives can also cause
toxic effects by

causing nutritional deficiencies.

interference with the functioning and
utilization of nutrients.
Antinutritives can interfere with food components
before intake, during digestion in the
gastrointestinal tract, and after absorption in the
body
 Type of Antinutritives

type A: substances primarily interfering with the digestion

of proteins or the absorption and utilization of amino
acids antiproteins

1.type B: substances interfering with the absorption or

metabolic utilization of minerals antiminerals

2.type C: substances that inactivate or destroy vitamins or

otherwise increase the need for vitamins antivitamins
 Antiproteins
Protease inhibitor : proteins which inhibit proteolytic
enzymes by binding to the active sites of the enzymes.

Source: many plants (soybean, potatoes), and in a few animal tissues,

eggs

Stability:
heat labile : Autoclaving soybeans for 20 min at 115°C or 40 min at
107 to 108°C
Prior soaking in water for 12 to 24 h makes the heat treatment more
effective.
Example: Boiling at 100°C for 15 to 30 min is sufficient to
improve the nutritional value of soaked soybeans.
Continued….
heat resistant:
Pasteurization for 40 sec at 72°C destroys only 3 to 4%,
heating at 85°C for 3 sec destroy 44 to 55%,
heating at 95°C for 1 hr destroy 73% of the inhibitor.

Ex: trypsin inhibitor in milk, chymotrypsin inhibitor in

potatoes
 Tannins
The condensed tannins are flavonoids. They are
polymers of leukoanthocyanidins.

The contribution of the tannins in tea, coffee, and cocoa to the

total tannin intake by humans is of particular importance. Tea
has the highest tannin content.

Other important sources of tannins are grapes, grape juice, and

wines.

A person may easily ingest 1–5g tannins per day.

 Tannins
Tannins are a heterogeneous group of broadly
distributed substances of plant origin.
Two types of tannins can be distinguished on the basis of
degradation behavior and botanical distribution, namely
hydrolyzable tannins and condensed tannins.
The hydrolyzable tannins are gallic, digallic, and ellagic acid
esters of glucose or quinic acid.
An example of this group is tannic acid, also known as
gallotannic acid, gallotannin. Tannic acid has been reported to
cause acute liver injury, i.e., liver necrosis and fatty liver.
 Lectins
Lectins is proteins that have highly specific binding sites for
carbohydrates.The majority of the lectins are glycoproteins.
Source: plants (legumes such as peanut, soybean, etc),
potato, banana, mango, and wheat germ.
Mechanism: disrupt small intestinal metabolism and damage
small intestinal villi via the ability of lectins to bind with brush
border surfaces in the distal part of small intestine.
Reduction: Heat processing can reduce the toxicity of lectins,
low temperature or insufficient cooking may not completely
eliminate their toxicity, as some plant lectins are resistant to
heat.
 Antiminerals

Substances interfering with the utilization of

essential minerals.
Source: vegetables, fruits, and cereal grains.
It includes: phytic acid, oxalic acid, dietary
fiber and gossypol
 Phytic acid
Phytic acid, the hexphosphoric ester of myo-inositol, is a strong
acid.
Phytic acid has been shown to have a negative effect on iron
absorption in humans.
Mechanism: Phytic acid prevents the complexation between iron and
gastroferrium, and iron-binding protein secreted in the stomach.
Reduction:
phytase activity can reduce the phytic acid level.
vit D consumption Calcium absorption is influenced not
only by dietary phytate but also by vitamin D and lipids. If
vitamin D is limiting in the diet, calcium absorption will be
less efficient and the phytate effect will become more
pronounced.
food processing: the activity of phytase drastically reduces
the phytate content of dough during bread- making.

Source Phytase: plants (soybeans, cereal grain)

Phytase is an enzyme which catalyzes the
dephosphorylation of phytic acid.
 Oxalic acid
Oxalic acid (HOOC–COOH) is a strong acid, it can induce
toxic as well as antinutritive effects. To humans, it can be
acutely toxic (4 to 5 g to induce any toxic effect)

Interference on calcium absorption

Negative effects oxalate/calcium ratio of foods higher

than 1 may decrease the calcium availability

Reduction: Consumption of foods rich in calcium, such as

dairy products and seafood, and enhanced vitamin D
intake
 Dietary fiber
food components derived from plant cell walls that are not
digested by the endogenous secretions of the human digestive
tract.
Dietary fiber consists of pectic substances, hemicelluloses,
plant gums and mucilages, algal polysaccharides, celluloses,
and lignin.
dietary fiber is a protective factor against many diseases e.g.,
colon cancer.
The various types of dietary fiber components have many
reactive groups, including –COOH, –HPO3H, – OH, –SO3H
and –NH2, to which metals, amino acids, proteins, and even
sugars can be bound.
There are different ways of binding to dietary
fiber

First, fiber components of many food products act like ion

exchangers. Their binding capacity depends on pH and
ionic composition of the bowel contents.

Secondly, amino acids and proteins are bound to dietary

fiber.
diet containing 15% cellulose can cause a
decrease in nitrogen absorption of as much as 8%.
Carrageenan's, which are highly indigestible, can cause a
decrease in nitrogen absorption of about 16%.
 Gossypol
This antinutritive is a yellow pigment present in all parts of
the cotton plant. The highest levels are found in cottonseed.

Gossypol exists in three tautomeric forms: phenolic quinoid

tautomer (I), aldehyde (II), and hemiacetal (III).

It forms insoluble chelates with many essential metals, such

as iron, and binds to amino acid moieties in proteins (esp.
lysine)

gossypol can reduce the availability of food proteins and

inactivate important enzymes.

Processing removes 80 to 99% of the gossypol.

 Antivitamins

Mechanism: a group of naturally occurring

substances which :
-can decompose vitamins,
-form unabsorbable complexes with them,
-interfere with their digestive or metabolic
utilization.
ascorbic acid oxidase, antithiamine factors,
and antipyridoxine factors
 Ascorbic acid oxidase

It is a copper-containing enzyme that mediates :

1.oxidation of free ascorbic acid dehydroascorbic
acid
2.dehydroascorbic acid diketogulonic acid, oxalic
acid, and other oxidation products

Source: fruits and vegetables such as cucumbers, pumpkins,

lettuce, bananas, tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, and green beans.

The enzyme is active between pH 4, about 38°C.

Being an enzyme, ascorbic acid oxidase can be inhibited

effectively by blanching of fruits and vegetables.
 Antithiamine factors
Antithiamine factors can be distinguished as thiaminases,
tannins, and catechols.

The interaction with vitamin B1 can lead to serious

neurotoxic effects as a result of vitamin B1 deficiency

Source: Thiaminases are found in many fish species,

freshwater, saltwater species, and in certain species of crab.

Mechanism: interact with vitamin B1 (thiamine), antithiamine

factors are enzymes that split thiamine at the methylene linkage
• Reduction: cooking destroys thiaminases in fish and
other sources.

• Antithiamine factors can also be of plant origin. Tannins,

occurring in a variety of plants, including tea inhibition of
growth in animals and for inhibition of digestive enzymes.

• Tannins are a complex of esters and ethers of various

carbohydrates. A component of tannins is gallic acid.
 Antipyridoxine factors
A variety of plants and mushrooms contain pyridoxine (a form of
vitamin B6) antagonists
The antipyridoxine factors have been identified as hydrazine
derivatives
Source: mushroom
Reduction: Immediate blanching after cleaning and cutting
can reduce the substance
Mechanism: condensation of the hydrazines with the carbonyl
compounds pyridoxal and pyridoxal phosphate — the active form of
the vitamin — resulting in the formation of inactive hydrazones
 Other antinutrional compounds
Saponins
Saponins are a heterogeneous group of naturally occurring foam-
producing triterpene or steroidal glycosides that occur in a wide
range of plants, including pulses and oil seeds such as kidney bean,
chickpea, soybean, groundnut, and sunflower.

saponins can affect metabolism in a number of ways as follows:

erythrocyte haemolysis, reduction of blood and liver cholesterol,
depression of growth rate.

Reduction; Saponins from beans can reduced by Sprouting &

roasting.
 Cyanogenic glycosides

Some legumes like linseed, lima bean, kidney bean and the
red gram contain cyanogenic glycosides from which
Hydrogen Cyanide may be released by hydrolysis.
Hydrolysis occurs rapidly when the ground meal is cooked
in water and most of the liberated HCN is lost by
volatilization.
HCN is very toxic at low concentration to animals. it can
cause dysfunction of the central nervous system,
respiratory failure and cardiac arrest.
 Goitrogens

Goitrogenic substances, which cause enlargement of the

thyroid gland, have been found in legumes such as
soybean and groundnut.
They have been reported to inhibit the synthesis and
secretion of the thyroid hormones.
Goitrogenic effect have been effectively counteracted
by iodine supplementation rather heat treatment.
 Chlorogenic acid

Sunflower meal contains high levels of chlorogenic acid, a tannin

like compound that inhibits activity of digestive enzymes including
trypsin, chymotrypsin, amylase and lipase.
chlorogenic acid is a precursor of ortho- Quinone that occur
through the action of the plant enzyme polyphenol oxidase.
These compounds then react with the polymerize lysine during
processing or in the gut.
it can be controlled by dietary supplementation with methyl donors
such as choline and methionine. And readily removed from
sunflower seeds using aqueous extraction methods
 Main non-nutrient compounds and their main
beneficial and adverse effects
compounds Beneficial effects Adverse effects Main source

Protease Anticarcinogenic. growth inhibition. Soya, cereals.

inhibitors
Amylase Potentially therapeutic in - Starch digestion. Cereals
inhibitors diabetes.
Lectins help in obesity treatment. -nutrient absorption. Beans

Phytates Hypocholesterolaemic - Bioavailability of Wheat bran, soya

effect. minerals.
Oxalates Anticarcinogenic. Same as for phytates Spinach,rhubarb.

tannins -risk of hormone related Astringent taste, Tea, sorghum,

cancer. -food intake. Rapeseed.
Lignans - Risk factors for growth inhibition. Linseed
Menopause.
Saponins Hypocholesterolaemic Bitter taste, -food soybean,
effect. intake. groundnut.
Elimination of anti-nutritional substances by
technological treatments

A number of treatments of food material are able to

eliminate some bioactive substances partially
including soaking, dry and moist heat treatment,
filtration, germination, fermentation and enzymatic
treatments.
chemical and physical characteristics determine the choice
of appropriate treatment used to eliminate an undesirable
compound from food
 Heat treatment

Heat processing is widely accepted as an effective means

of inactivating the thermo-labile anti-nutritional factors in
food material.
This improves protein quality by inactivating anti-
physiological factors, particularly trypsin inhibitor and
haemagglutinins and by unfolding the protein structure.
Heat treatment process includes boiling, autoclaving,
pressure cooking, extrusion cooking, toasting
 Cooking (boiling)

Cooking generally inactivates heatsensitive anti-

nutritive factors such as trypsin and chymotrypsin
inhibitors and volatile compounds.

Cooking for 60 minutes at 1000C was sufficient to

inactivate over 90% of the trypsin inhibitor activity in food
materials.
 Autoclaving
Autoclaving cooking under pressure includes the
food materialsare autoclaved for 30 minutes at
125oC and 15 Ib pressure, thermo-labile inhibitory
substances such as cyanogenic glycosides, saponins,
terpenoids and alkaloids could be eliminated from the food
materials.
Pressure cooking
the food material is cooked under pressure for 30
minutes to remove trypsin inhibitors in food.
 Microwave treatment
microwave treatment is the heats food by passing
microwave radiation through it. Microwave ovens use
frequencies 2.45 (GHz) and a wavelength is 12.2
centimetres for 10 minutes to eliminates the trypsin inhibitor and
haemagglutinating activity in food.
Extrusion cooking
The cooking process takes place within the extruder where the
product produces its own friction and heat due to the pressure
generated (10–20 bar). The process can induce both protein
denaturation and starch gelatinization, complete inactivation of
haemagglutinins in food materials
 Soaking
Soaking could be one of the processes to remove soluble
antinutritional factors, seeds were soaked in water at 22oC for 18 h
to decreases in trypsin inhibitor activity in the food.
Germination (sprouting)
Germination has been documented to be an effective
treatment to remove some anti-nutritional factors in legumes by
mobilizing secondary metabolic compounds which are thought to
function as reserve nutrients.
Germination can lower the phytate content in legume seeds
depending upon the type of bean and germinating conditions
Elimination processes for Anti-nutritional
factor

Bioactive substance Commonly used elimination processes

Enzyme inhibitors Heat treatment

Phytic acid Enzymatic degradation, germination, and

fermentation

Oxalate Cooking, dehulling

Phenolic compounds Dehulling
Saponins Sprouting
Lectins Heat treatment
 Summary

Non-nutrient compounds are one of the largest group of

secondary metabolites present in the plant kingdom.

This class of natural products has a wide range of biological

activity, ranging from beneficial to adverse effects in both plants
and animals.

Currently non-nutrient chemicals are substances that are found in

food that could potentially affect human health but are not
identified as nutrients. Non- nutrients can be found in food as
texture and food physic-chemistry, color, taste or smell.