The experiment was carried out on six pigs with an initial body weight of about 34 kg. The pigs were fitted with a simple T-shape cannula and fed on six semisynthetic diets containing sucrose and legume seed meal as the main components. Faba bean (cvs Kamir and Alen), white-flowered pea (cvs Kwestor and Sol) and coloured-flowered pea (cvs Fidelia and Vatra) seeds were the only source of polysaccharides and protein for the experimental animals. Ileal digestibility of pea starch ranged from 85 to 87% and was similar for all the tested cultivars. The starch digestibility of faba bean was 86% for cv Alen and 82% for cv Kamir. Digestibility of pea and faba bean protein varied from 70 to 74%, a-galactosides of faba beans were microbiologically hydrolyzed up to 83%, and those of pea seeds up to 93% in the small intestine. Digestibility of non-starch polysaccharides averaged 39% for faba beans and from 27 to 43% for the pea cultivars. No differences were found between the two types of pea, indicating that tannins of the coloured-flowered pea did not interfere with ileal digestion of major nutrients fed to pigs.