Chemical composition of a new Lupinus species found in Spain, Lupinus mariae-josephi H. Pascual (Fabaceae)

Abstract

A new lupin from Valencia (Spain) has been described recently. The new species Lupinus mariae-josephi H. Pascual (Fabaceae) differs from any other Mediterranean and North American taxon in banner position, flower colour and inflorescence structure. This species was found in a calcareous area, and when it was grown in experimental fields it has always performed better in alkaline soils. This work attempts to establish the content of protein, oil and nutritionally active factors (alkaloids, α-galactosides and inositol phosphates) in this new species of lupin, to investigate differences with other Lupinus ssp. The analysed raw seed samples of this new species showed a total protein content of 329.4 g kg–1 and oil content of 54.0 g kg–1. The total content of alkaloids, α-galactosides and phytate was similar to other bitter Lupinus species being lupanine, stachyose and myo-inositol hexaphosphate (IP6) the main bioactive compounds. However, the profile of alkaloids and proteins, which is an important chemotaxonomic criterion, was characteristic of this species. It is worth to notice that this Lupinus is able to grow in calcareous soils what makes this species very promising for soil recovery