# Legumes as Functional Food for Cardiovascular Disease
## 3 Legumes as Functional Food for Cardiovascular Diseases
### Other Legumes  
A number of other legumes and their proteins have been briefly reported to improve cardiovascular health. Protein concentrates (12%) from _Phaseolus angularis_, _Phaseolus calaratus_, and _Dolichos lablab_ significantly decreased levels of TAGs, TC, and LDL-C and increased hepatic total lipids in male Golden Syrian hamsters after 30 days [14; 339]. [PERSON] et al., (2010) [11] found that kidney beans (_Phaseolus vulgaris_ L.) showed significant reduction in TC (by 6%) and LDL-C (by 9%) while peanuts (_Anchis hypogaea_ L.) significantly decreased TC levels by 7% in humans (\(p<0.05\)). More recently, [PERSON] et al., (2015) [14] found ACE inhibitory activities in vitro from the enzyme-digested 7S globulin of the hyacinth bean (_Lablab purpureus_ L.) that is comparable to a drug widely used to treat hypertension, congestive heart failure, and increases the survival following a heart attack. In vitro ACE1 inhibition assays revealed that either pepsin- or \(\alpha\)-chymotrypsin-digested purified hyacinth bean 7S globulins (1 mg/mL) performed statistically similarly compared to an equivalent concentration of captopril [14]. Moth bean (_Phaseolus acoutifilios_ Jacq.) seed proteins were found to significantly reduce plasma TAG, TC, LDL-C and total lipids as well as hepatic total TC levels while increasing HDL-C in Wistar rats fed with 10% of the bean's protein for 45 days [194]. The faba bean (_Vicia faba_ L.) is commonly consumed in some European countries particularly those found along the Mediterranean Sea. In male Wistar, hypercholesterolic rat models, [PERSON] et al., (2001) [171] demonstrated significant decreased body weights and plasma TAG when fed with whole faba bean seed diet. Rats fed with either the whole seed or protein isolate increased serum LDL + VLDL-C [171]. They further opined that this hypercholesterolic effect was not due to the reduced cholesterol synthesis due to the HMG-CoA reductase activity but rather to the increased excretion of fecal steroids. Faba bean proteins demonstrated the reduction of blood cholesterol levels that is comparable to soybean protein through the use of hypercholesterolic rats [171; 340]. The amino acid profile of faba bean seeds and its protein isolates are ascribed to their hypocholesterolemic potential as the seeds have a lysine:arginine ratio and a methionine:glycine ratio 0.33 and 0.17, respectively, while its protein isolates have a lysine:arginine ratio and a methionine:glycine ratio of 0.26 and 0.29, respectively, which are lower than the corresponding levels in casein [171, 341, 342]. [PERSON] et al., (2015) [87] showed that male Winstar rats fed with 300 mg of the purified adzuki bean or red mungbean (_Vicia angularis_ (Wild.) Ohwi and Ohashi) 7S globulins (protein per kg body weight) for 28 days exhibited significant decrease in mean body weight gain (23%), which is comparable to the casein-simvastatin fed group and decreased hepatic tissue weight (10%); serum cholesterol, non-HDL-C, and TAGs; lipoprotein lipase activity (62%); and atherogenic index while increased serum HDL-C (52%) and excreted total fat (17%) and cholesterol (13%) levels compared to the casein-fed group. Supplementation of the adzuki 7S globulin (300 mg/kg/day) was able to significantly reduce serum TC and TAG levels by 33% (\(p<0.001\)) and 17.8% (\(p<0.05\)) compared to the rats fed with simvastatin (50 mg/kg/day). Simvastatin was still able to significantly reduce such TC levels by 20.3% (\(p<0.001\)) but could not significantly decrease serum TAG levels. With reference to the rats fed with a high cholesterol diet for 28 days, addition of the adzuki 7S globulin also decreased serum non-HDL-C concentrations and the atherogenic index by 46% and 67%, respectively, when compared to only a reduction of 30.7% and 0.31%, respectively, due to simvastatin supplementation (\(p<0.001\)). Serum HDL-C levels significantly increased by 153% (\(p<0.001\)) but the simvastatin fed group did not statistically increase (18.5%) when compared to the rats fed with a hypercholesterol diet.