## 3 Nutritional, Anti-Nutritional and Health Beneficial Constituents of Lima Beans  
Lima beans have a good nutritional profile and are an excellent source of proteins, amino acids (AA), minerals, dietary fiber and B-complex vitamins (folate, B6 and niacin). An advantage the seeds have over other legumes is their fat-free protein quality [44], There is, however, variation within species in terms of nutritional composition [45; 46], which can be attributed to fluctuations in climate and growing stages [36]. Its nutritional composition, such as fat, protein, carbohydrate and ash, ranges from 0.21 to 3.12%, 8.61 to 26.02%, 50.44 to 77.39% and 2.35 to 6.12%, respectively [45; 46; 47; 48] (Table 1). The lima bean hulls also have a higher protein content than most cereals [49], which means that lima beans are a good source of dietary protein that can be used to complement other food crops such as cereals. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c} \hline
**Protein** & **Ash** & **Fat** & **Fibre** & **Carbohydrate** & **Reference** \\ \hline
22.24 & 4.68 & 1.22 & 6.85 & 58.56 & [PERSON] et al. [16] \\
15.93 & 3.67 & 1.15 & * 27.87 & 68.89 & [PERSON] et al. [27] \\
24.98 & 4.14 & 2.03 & * 22.72 & [PERSON] & [PERSON] et al. [45] \\
23.17 & 2.78 & 0.21 & * 18.40 & 71.14 & [PERSON], and [PERSON] [46] \\
25.91–30.29 & 3.08–3.41 & 2.04–2.65 & 2.57–2.80 & 61.68–65.61 & [PERSON] et al. [47] \\
26.02 & 3.05 & 3.03 & 7.12 & 60.78 & [PERSON] [48] \\
23.8–27.3 & 3.4–3.6 & 1.5–2.1 & 2.4–2.7 & 53.4–57.3 & [PERSON] [50] \\
24.07 & 3.40 & 3.77 & 5.10 & NR & [PERSON] et al. [51] \\
24.90–25.01 & 4.3–5.64 & 2.92–3.05 & 1.98–2.07 & 50.44–51.64 & [PERSON] et al. [52] \\
21.6–24.0 & 4.3–4.4 & 1.3–2.3 & NR & 60.0–63.1 & [PERSON] et al. [53] \\
24.65–25.55 & 6.12–6.69 & 1.60–1.62 & 4.98–5.00 & 49.42–52.71 & [PERSON] [54] \\
21.20 & 3.00 & 1.51 & 4.20 & 68.51 & [PERSON] [55] \\
8.61 & 3.29 & 2.19 & 2.00 & 72.56 & [PERSON] [56] \\
20.69–23.08 & 4.39–5.61 & 0.59–1.14 & 4.06–6.86 & 54.31–59.64 & [PERSON] et al. [57] \\
24.6 & 3.2 & 2.8 & 6.8 & 57.3 & [PERSON] et al. [58] \\
19.50 & 5.12 & 0.52 & 4.52 & 55.06 & [PERSON] and [PERSON] [59] \\
22.72 & 4.82 & 1.68 & 4.27 & 57.31 & [PERSON] and [PERSON] [60] \\
17.53–22.69 & 3.43–4.94 & 1.31–1.86 & 6.24–7.84 & 50.68–54.92 & [PERSON] and [PERSON] [61] \\
23.98–24.76 & 3.14–3.35 & 2.78–2.94 & 5.59–6.09 & 53.17–54.40 & [PERSON] and [PERSON] [62] \\
26.67 & 4.1 & 1.72 & 5.83 & 61.68 & [PERSON] et al. [63] \\
14.23 & 2.35 & 3.12 & 16.05 & 57.70 & [PERSON] et al. [64] \\
16.62–22.47 & 3.51–4.28 & 1.27–1.72 & * 19.21–21.93 & 72.75–77.39 & [PERSON] et al. [65] \\
24.46 & 3.37 & 5.93 & 2.51 & 54.43 & [PERSON] et al. [66] \\ \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 1: Nutritional composition (%) of lima bean reported in literature. In general, lima seeds have two folds of added protein compared to cereals [9; 67] and are rich in lysine, an essential amino acid (AA). As reflected in Table 2, lysine levels can range between 4.2 and 101.4 g/100 g. Other notable essential amino acids (which have to be sourced from food as the body cannot produce them) of benefit to humans present in lima beans are phenylalanine (2.8-128.3 g/100 g), leucine (1.42-156.7 g/100 g), valine (0.81-98.3 g/100 g), threonine (0.84-102.7 g/100 g), isoleucine (0.77-90.8 g/100 g) and histidine (0.09-62.4 g/100 g) (Table 2). These AAs are important biological components needed in the human body for biosynthesis, neurotransmission and other metabolic activities, and studies indicate that lima beans are a good source of these components. The amino acid (AA) levels of lima beans are similar to that of cowpea and soybean crops [68]. Levels of essential Aas, such as phenylalanine, arginine and leucine, are higher than the FAO recommended daily allowances (RDA) in lima seeds (Table 2), with the exception of methionine, which is reported to occur in low levels [46; 48]. [PERSON] et al. [27], however, reported an increase in methionine and concluded that methionine is part of the limiting Aas of pulse proteins.