17 T. Masood H. U. Shah A. Zeb Journal of Animal and Plant Sciences JAPS 20142014/06/01 24 3 850-859 1018-7081 NA <p>This study was conducted to investigate the effect of different sprouting times on proximate composition, total energy and ascorbic acid content of mung bean (<em>Vigna radiate&nbsp;</em>L.) and chickpea (<em>Cicer arietinum&nbsp;</em>L.) seeds. Seeds were sprouted for 24, 48, 72, 96 and 120 h under dark at 25 &deg;C &plusmn;2. Moisture contents, crude protein, ash and crude fiber contents were significantly increased from 9.75 %, 20.65 %, 2.75 % and 5.65 % to 62.67 %, 26.80 %, 3.67 % and 8.96 % respectively after 120 h of sprouting. While crude fat, carbohydrate and total energy content significantly decreased from 3.79 %, 57.41 % and 346.3 kcal 100 g-1 to 2.97 %, 47.75 % and 325.3 kcal 100 g-1 respectively after 120 h of sprouting. Higher percent improvement over control in moisture, ash and crude protein was recorded in chickpea than mung bean seeds. In contrast more % losses over control in crude fat, carbohydrates and total energy were found in mung bean than chickpea seeds after 120 h sprouting. Ascorbic acid contents in mung bean and chickpea increased significantly from zero to 20.78 mg 100 g-1 and 9.94 mg 100 g-1 respectively after 120 h of sprouting. Improvement in ascorbic acid over control samples was greater in mung bean (3700 %) than chickpea sprouts (994 %). It can be concluded from the study that sprouting for 120 h brought maximum improvement in the nutritional quality of mung bean and chickpea.</p> mung bean, chickpea, sprouting time, proximate composition, ascorbic acid Pakistan Agricultural Scientists Forum https://thejaps.org.pk/AbstractView.aspx?mid=2014-JAPS-120