SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPE STUDIES ON DRY BEANS. Effects of Cooking on the Cellular Structure of Cotyledons in Rehydrated Large Lima Beans

Abstract

The scanning electron microscope was used to make a photographic comparison between the cellular characteristics of raw, partially cooked, and completely cooked, water‐soaked as well as quick‐cooking beans. The cooking process involved gelatinization of starch granules contained within integral cell units and concurrent dispersion of intercellular components of the middle lamella which facilitated separation of intact cells without rupture of cell walls. Mechanical stresses due to starch gelatinization, protein denaturation, swelling and heat convection may have promoted cell separation. Except for differences in the rates at which these processes progressed there were no conspicuous differences between the structural characteristics of the water‐soaked beans and the quick‐cooking beans.