Table 2.

List of bioactive functional groups in lentils and their biological functions.

Bioactive Functional Groups	Individual Components	Quantity in 100 g of Lentils	Biological Functions	Reference
Phytosterols	β-sitosterol	15.0–24.0 mg	Regulate the membrane fluid	[14,16]
	campesterol	15.0 mg
	stigmasterol	20.0 mg
Active Proteins
Trypsin/protease inhibitors	Bowman–Birk trypsin inhibitors	3–8 trypsin inhibitor unit (TIU)/mg	Anti-nutritional components; decrease the digestibility of dietary proteins; inhibit the cell proliferation in cancer	[17,18]
Lectins	Lectins or hemagglutinins	12.0 mg	Ability to agglutinate red blood cells RBC and strong stimulators of murine B lymphocyte proliferation	[19,20]
Defensins	Defensins	8.0 mg	Participate in the development of innate immunity	[21]
Dietary Fibers	Fibers	Insoluble fibers (93–99.7 mg/g) and soluble fibers (<7 mg/g)	Potential effect of hypocholesterolemic, anti-cancer, anti-tumor, antibacterial and hypoglycemic effects	[7,22]
	Resistant starches	25.4 g	Significant contributor to gastrointestinal health and gut microbiota	[23]
Polyphenols Flavonoids	Flavonols (e.g., quercetin and kaempferol)	0.03 to 10.85 and 0.24 to 13.20 mg	Antioxidant potential	[3,24]
	Flavones, flavanones	Total phenolic content: 26 mg gallic acid equivalents (GAE/100 g fresh wt; total flavonoid content: 21 mg catechin equivalents/100 g, and the condensed tannin content of 870 mg catechin equivalents/100 g	Antioxidant activity and potential effect on cardiovascular disease (CVD), diabetes, osteoporosis and neurodegenerative diseases	[24,25]
	Proanthocyanidins or condensed tannins (e.g., prodelphinidins and procyanidins)
	Flavan-3-ols or flavanols (e.g., catechin and gallocatechin)	759 mg (GAE)/100 g; glycosides of flavanones: 33.1–186.0 µg; glycosides of flavonols: 9.6–241 µg; dimers procyanidins: 619–1122 µg; trimer procyanidins: 441–498 µg; tetramer procyanidins: 18.5–59.5 µg; galloylated procyanidins 69.3–123 µg	Antioxidant activity	[3,24]
	Anthocyanidins (e.g., delphinidin and cyanidin)
Polyphenols Non-flavonoids	Hydroxybenzoic acids	Hydroxybenzoic acids: 4.5–28.4 µg	Antioxidant activity and potential effect on diabetes, osteoporosis CVD and neurodegenerative diseases	[24,25]
	Hydroxycinnamic acids (e.g., p-coumaric acid, ferulic acid and sinapic acid)	Prodelphinidins 369–725 µg; condensed tannins: 870 mg catechins equivalent	Antioxidant activity	[3,24]
	Stilbenoids, trans-resveratrol-3-O-glucoside	Glycosides of trans-resveratrol: 5.5–9.3 µg;	Antioxidant activity and potential effect on diabetes and CVD	[24,25]
Phytoestrogens: isoflavones	Formononetin, daidzein, genistein, glycitein, matairesinol, biochanin A, coumestrol, lariciresinol, pinoresinol, secoisolariciresinol, coumestrol	Total isoflavones (9.5 μg), total lignans (26.6 μg) and total phytoestrogens (36.5 μg)	Antioxidant potential	[26]
Phytate	Phytic acid	620 mg	Inhibit the proliferation of colorectal cancer	[27]
Triterpenoids	Squalene	0.7 mg	Chemopreventive potential against colorectal cancer	[28]
Saponins	Saponins	25 mg	Hypoglycemic and antidiabetic potential	[29]