Isolation of the egg weight depressing factor in fababeans (<i>Vicia faba</i> L. var. minor)

Abstract

Abstract Two experiments were conducted to study the egg weight depressing effect of an ethanol‐water extract of autoclaved fababean protein concentrate. Acetone fractionation of the extract produced four fractions, one of which (fraction H ), significantly depressed egg weight. Further fractionation of fraction H produced two fractions; a highly water‐soluble supernatant fraction and a fraction with low water solubility which was harvested as a white precipitate. Both the supernatant and the white precipitate, when added to diets in proportion to their relative yields, caused similar depressions in egg weight. The observation that there was a direct relationship between amounts of vicine‐reactive material in the different fractions and the magnitude of egg weight depression indicates that the principal egg weight depressing factor in fababeans is vicine and/or convincine.